Photographer: Lamote, Carlo (1928-2017).
Title: untitled (Circumcision among the Bayaka of Kwango).
Date: 1950.
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Medium: unmounted gelatin silver print.
Size: 24,1 x 18,1 cm.
Condition: very good.
Reference: CLIV1210/1.
Provenance: Collection family Carlo Lamote.
Extra: typed note with identification in French on verso.
Congopresse: 31.421/23.
Circumcision among the Bayaka of Kwango.
After the procedure, the patient’s genitals are sprinkled with fine sand, then exposed to smoke from a small fire, and a small stick is tied under the penis to keep it away from the body. These practices, which the natives likely attribute a magical significance to, are, in reality, rudimentary antiseptic measures.
Location: Swa Tende (Swa Tenda).
Territory: Kasongo Lunda.
Province: Kwango.
Photographer and cameraman Carlo Lamote (1928-2017)) left for Congo in 1950 to work for the colonial information service. For ten years, he travelled to every corner of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi to highlight the colonial achievements. Propaganda is the name of the game, but he turned out to be an excellent photographer. Together with his colleague Henri Goldstein, Lamote has shaped our image of the Belgian Congo. Open any book about the 1950s in the colony and you will find their names under the photos.After independence, he set up his own film production company and news agency, with Visnew, ABC and CBS as regular customers. He was also the founder of Congovox, the news service of the Congolese state broadcaster.