The Dogon people of Mali are world-renowned for the splendor of their masks, the beauty of their architecture (dwellings, granaries, altars, sanctuaries, troglodyte dwellings, and togunas) and sculptures, and the richness of their archaeological, social, and cultural heritage (ritual and popular festivals, and periodic ancestral worship through various ceremonies). The Bandiagara site adds to this wealth of heritage with its exceptional landscapes of cliffs and sandstone plateaus. It is one of the most majestic sites in West Africa.

Today, there is a fascination with the Dogon based in part on a romantic association between a chaotic landscape of origins (that is, a "primitive" nature) and an authentic and unchanging ancestral culture. (Eric Jolly)

The Dogon are primarily farmers, mainly of millet (stored in the well-stocked granaries of each family), and blacksmiths. Most villages are built into the cliffside and are accessible by often steep paths.

The traditional house is organized around a courtyard, surrounded by each woman's granary and the husband's, which is used to store millet. The Dogon men, in their ochre-brown boubous and woven trousers under conical hats, and the Dogon women with their sophisticated hairstyles and colorful pagnes, fascinate the newcomer. Dogon rituals are striking, such as the custom of refined greetings punctuated by a "Sewa," meaning "all is well," or the presence of the toguna (or "meeting house") in each village, where the men of the village, and especially the elders, gather to discuss common affairs.

The Dogon people have an animistic religion. The baobab is a sacred tree that can never be cut down or sold; the fox, the snake, and the crocodile are sacred animals that have a place in Dogon mythology: they must never be killed.

This photographic series illustrates the richness of the culture and the beauty of the site where the Dogon people have lived for over ten centuries.

Relatively untouched by global tourism due to the resurgence of jihadist activity in Mali, this civilization, and the site that shelters it, perhaps utopically, convey an image of original harmony that is quite exceptional today.

A vibrant space with which photography resonates.