“A little bit of a Rebel” The Life and Legacy of Pierre Fatumbi Verger from a Global North-South Perspective

por Noam Cohen*

*Noam Cohen, born in Israel, based in Germany, is a master’s student at Leipzig University in African Studies, after completing his B.A in Tel Aviv University in General History & African Studies with Magna Cum Laude. He is focusing on North-South dynamics, knowledge production, African modern history, civil society and human rights in Africa and around the world.

Abstract

Pierre Fatumbi Verger, born in Paris, France and died in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, lived during almost the entire 20th century. From an early age Verger felt constrained in his family socio-economic class, so he chose to “escape”. He became a nomad photographer, and later a researcher, among the most unknown societies of his era, mostly native Africans and their diasporic communities in the Americas. His figure was best described by Gilberto Freyre, that said that Verger was “giving voice to silenced and forgotten communities on both sides of the Atlantic.”.[1]

Lühning stated that he was one of the great researchers to engage with Afro-Brazilian religion and culture,[2] while Rodriguez noted that Verger was among the most outstanding photographers of the 20th century.[3] Yet, his figure has been perceived differently in the global North and South. As Cohen recalled, even though his substantial legacy, Verger remained “marginalized figure, completely outside the canon of the global North.”.[4]

Verger, that was expelled from school at the age of 17 and was a proud autodidact, embraced unique methods in the field, which helped him to gain legitimacy from the people he lived among in Bahia and West Africa. However, paradoxically, he didn’t gain an equal amount of support from the Northen-based academy, particularly from the English-speaking one.

In this paper I will attempt to show that his neglection have links with his unique methods and antagonist position towards the world of Western knowledge production. More importantly, I argue that his pioneering ways of working has an important role in understanding North-South dynamics.

To read the full text: “A little bit of a Rebel” – The Life and Legacy of Pierre Fatumbi Verger from a Global North-South Perspective.

[1] Angela Lühning. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. Cahiers Du Brésil Contemporain, 38/39, pp. 86.

[2] Lühning. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 75.

[3] Javier Escudero Rodriguez (2022). Pierre Fatumbi Verger United States of America, 1934 & 1937. Damiani. pp. 19.

[4] Peter Cohen, personal interview at FPV, 21.02.2024.

 

Introduction  

“Pierre Fatumbí Verger, Frenchman by birth, Bahian by choice and African by affinity.”7 Lühning, a view from Bahia (1999)  

Shortly before he passed away, Pierre Verger said that he considers himself “a little bit of a rebel”,  due to what he considered as his “special way of working and interests”.8 Even though he was  born to a Parisian bourgeois family in 1902, Verger attempted during his life to “free himself and  escape” from his family socio-economic class, status and lifestyle.9 When he turned 30, he lost all  his family, which led him to take three decisions:  

1) To dedicate his life to traveling the world;  

2) To become a photographer, and;  

3) To commit suicide once he turns 40.  

Eventually, Verger did not committed suicide, but rather lived through most of the 20th century,  until he passed away on February 11th, 1996. However, the other two decisions made significant  changes in his life: In the early 1930s Verger bought a Rolleiflex camera and became a globetrotter.  

After traveling and working in six continents, Verger arrived in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, on  August 5, 1946. Even though he continued to travel constantly for another 35 years, Verger  immediately said that he felt “the charm of the Good Land” [“Boa Terra”]10 and he settled down in  Salvador. There, Verger was amazed by the Afro-Brazilian cultures, and he developed strong ties  with the local communities, which will later become his “new family”.11 

In Brazil, Verger was especially fascinated by the people of Candomblé, Afro-Diasporic religion  that was mainly practiced in Bahia, and today it has spread across the country. In West Africa,  where he stayed approximately 17 years, Verger was attracted to Ifá, Yoruba divination system in  which the divine spirits are called Orishas.12 

7 Lühning. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 75  

8 Carles Solís & Pierre Verger (2009). Pierre Verger: Nunca Tuve la sensación Detrabajar. Pasajes, 30, pp. 102. 

9 Pierre Fátúmbí Verger. (2011). Pierre Verger: 50 anos de fotografia: 1932-1982. Fundação Pierre Verger. pp. 318. 

10 Author Note: Boa Terra is an expression often used by the local habitants of Bahia to describe their love to the Land.

11 Flora Gil, Gilberto Gil, Leonardo Monteiro de Barros, Pedro Buarque de Hollanda (1998). Pierre Verger – Mensageiro Entre Dois  Mundos [DVD]. Brazil; Gege Produções. 

12 Heather Shirey. (2009). Transforming the Orixás: Candomblé in Sacred and Secular Spaces in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. African Arts,  42(4). pp. 62-67.  

 

Even though he never engaged with academic discipline as student, in the 1950s Verger shifted  from been a photographer to a researcher. During the second half of his life, Verger managed to  publish about 130 articles and books in multiple languages, including non-Western languages, with  non-Western publications.13 

His research was focused on various topics, such as the historical interrelationship between  the Bight of Benin and Bahia, socio-economic aspects in Brazil and Africa, traditional medicine,  African poetry, indigenous knowledge, cultural and language preservation and more.14 

Alongside exploring Verger’s work and legacy, this paper will engage with his pioneering  methods in the field, that helped him to obtain a greater honor in West Africa and Brazil, the  places he was most active, rather than from the global North, where he reminded an obscured  figure.15  

I argue that Verger’s unique working methods tackled issues such as knowledge production,  academic dynamics, centralizing marginalized people, global North-South thinking flows, ethics  and human relations.  

 

13 Peter Cohen. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. Cahiers Du Brésil Contemporain, 38/39, pp. 128.  14 See literature of Verger in English at the Bibliography: Verger (1978). African Cultural Survivals in the New World: The examples of  Brazil and Cuba. Verger. (1964). Bahia and the West African trade, 1549-1851. Verger. (1955). Yoruba influences in Brazil. Verger.  (1967). The poetry of Yoruba leaves. Verger. (1995). Ewé: The use of plants in Yoruba society.  

15 Cohen. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 128, 136. See also: Alessandra Brivio, (2013). Notes sur le Culte des  Orisa et Vodun. History in Africa, 40(1), pp. 287-289. Ana Lucia Araujo (2013). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: Negotiating connections between  Brazil and the bight of Benin. Luso-Brazilian Review, 50(1), pp. 121. 

 

Methodology  

I first encountered the work of Pierre Fatumbi Verger in 2022, as a master’s student in African  Studies at the University of Leipzig. Following my personal interest in his life and work, I contacted  Fundação Pierre Verger (FPV), and offered to conduct a research internship there. Angela Lühning,  the foundation’s secretary director, agreed, and so I arrived at Salvador da Bahia in October 2023  for a six-month internship for FPV.  

During my research, my main limitation was my insufficient level of Portuguese and lack of  knowledge in French, languages with broad literature about Verger. However, during my time at  FPV, I received great help from my colleagues there, who helped me to translate important  materials from Portuguese and French to English.  

This paper employed an integrated and multifaceted methodology to provide a comprehensive  understanding of Verger life, work and legacy. During my internship I conducted extensive  literature review and archival research: I covered literature about theories from the South and  the academic dynamics with the global North, together with plenty of publications about the life  and legacy of Verger. More importantly, I had the privilege to dive into the articles, books,  personal correspondences, interviews, songs, movies, and photographs of Verger.  

Throughout my research I conducted four in-depth interviews with key figures in the life and  legacy of Verger: Alex Baradel,16 Angela Lühning,17 Negrizu,18 and Peter Cohen.19 Each one of them  provided me with first-hand accounts or analyzations of Verger. In addition, while living in Salvador  for six months, the visual and historical memory of Verger, within museums and galleries, as well  as from testimonies from ordinary people in the city, contributed to a contextualized view of his  legacy nowadays.  

16 Baradel, French-born based in Bahia, had his first contact with FPV in 1999 and has been working in the foundation since 2000,  nowadays as the head of Photographic Collection. 

17 Lühning, German-born based in Bahia, met Verger in 1984 and stayed close to him until he passed away. As a Prof. for  Ethnomusicologist at Universidade Federal da Bahia, she wrote in abundance about the life and work of Verger. Today Lühning is  the secretary director of FPV and coordinating the activities of Espaço Cultural Pierre Verger.  

18 Carlos Pereira dos Santos, alias Negrizu, is a Bahian artist and dancer. He met Verger in the 1970s and in the 1980s he was  taking care of his photograph negatives. Currently he is working for FPV and Espaço Cultural Pierre Verger. 

19 Cohen, US-born based in Bahia, conducted a research about Verger as social scientist in the 1990s and worked broadly in the  global South as Social Safeguards Specialist. 

 

Between Paris, Dahomey and Bahia: Verger’s Early Life  

“I started traveling, not so much driven by a desire to do ethnographic research or journalistic  reports, but rather as a result of the need to distance myself, to free myself and escape the  environment in which I had been living until then, whose prejudices and rule of conduct did not  make me happy.”20 

Verger, 50 anos (1982)  

Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger was born in Paris on November 4th, 1902, to a wealthy bourgeois  family with Dutch-Belgian ancestry. His family was the owners of Établissements Léopold Verger et  Co., a considerably well-known printing company at that time, until it went bankrupt in 1927, and  lost most of its assets.21 

Not much is known about Verger’s occupation as a young adult, however from his late life  correspondence it’s very likely that in the 1920s he worked as salesman for a metal company that  produced frames for street advertising in Paris. That work, along with his father prestigious  printing company, helped Verger to meet Parisian intellectuals and artists from the New Vision movement.22 

In the film Mensageiro Entre Dois Mundos, Verger’s old friends, Pierre Boucher and Maurice  Baquet, recalled that he always felt constrained in his social class, and as a symbol to the beginning  of his new life, Verger took off his suits dress, started to wear short pants and walked barefoot  in the streets of Paris.23 

When Verger was almost 90 years old, he stated in an interview that from a young age he  renounced his family status: “I reacted against my family way of thinking, and I sought to assert  my disagreement, so I thought that by doing the opposite of what was expected from me I was  going to be happier”.24 It’s very likely that Verger’s sexual identity, as a gay person that was born  to a conservative family, has also affected his rejection to his family discipline and manners.  

20 Verger. 50 anos de Fotografia. pp. 318.  

21 Cohen. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 129,  

22 Alex Baradel, personal communication at FPV, 27.11.2023.  

23 Gil et al. Mensageiro Entre Dois Mundos [DVD].  

24 Véronique Mortaigne & Pierre Fátúmbí Verger (1992, September 15). Entretien avec Véronique Mortaigne. Le Monde. 

 

However, throughout the years, he rarely spoke with his heterosexual friends about his sexual  identity.  

Pierre’s father, Leopold Verger, that later was always referred with a sense of bitterness  by his son, has died in 1915. Pierre’s two older brothers, Louis and Jean, died in 1914 and 1929,  the death of the latter caused him a great sorrow. In 1932, his beloved mother, Marie Verger,  passed away and he became kinless. This situation has catalyzed his lifechanging decisions to  become a traveler and later a photographer.25 

On his 30th birthday, Verger decided that once he will be 40, he will commit suicide. Even  though he claimed that he planned to kill himself since he didn’t want to become “a senile old  man”26, I argue that his death wish should be regarded together with the dreadful loss of his family,  since he made his declaration approximately three months after his mother’s death.  

It’s unclear how serious were Verger’s intentions regarding his suicide, since both in his  correspondence and personal diary, this topic wasn’t mentioned again. Baradel stated that the  decision to travel the world served as a therapy for Verger’s family loss.27 Therefore, I assume  that this ‘therapy’ helped him to withdraw his decision to end his life, since he found his destiny.  

Lühning divided Verger’s life into three main chapters: his early life in France, later as a  globetrotter and finally as the messenger that traveled between Brazil and West Africa. Due to  his constant movement around the world, Lühning claimed that it was almost impossible to  understand Verger’s complexity during his life span, since “nobody stayed close to him during all  these periods”. Lühning, that met Verger in 1984 and remained close to him until he passed away,  described him as a person that often-wanted company, but usually preferred to stay alone, perhaps  due to his shy and humble character.28 

In 1932 Verger went on his first trip, together with his close friend and photographer,  Boucher, to explore Corsica’s 1,500km perimeter by foot.29 This trip turned out to be highly  significant, since it was then that Boucher introduced Verger to the Rolleiflex camera, that became his camera for the next 50 years. Later in his life, Verger claimed that he never desired  to be a professional photographer, but rather just wanted to “imitate” his friend, so he bought a  Rollei for himself.30 

25 Alex Baradel., Pierre Fátúmbí Verger & Raul Lody. (2002). O Olhar Viajante de Pierre Fatumbi Verger. FPV. pp. 216.  26 Ibid. 50 anos de Fotografia. pp. 318, 333.  

27 Alex Baradel, personal communication at FPV, 12.01.2024.  

28 Angela Lühning, personal Interview at FPV, 15.01.2024.  

29 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 129, 

30 Solís & Verger (2009). Pierre Verger: Nunca Tuve la sensación Detrabajar. pp. 102.  

 

From 1932 onwards, Verger traveled the world extensively. In October that year, after  coming back from Corsica, he went to the Soviet Union for the 15 years celebration of the 1917  revolution. He felt a great disappointed from the experience in the USSR since it was then that  he understood that even if he will embrace the exact opposite of his family lifestyle, he won’t  necessarily be happier.31 

Figure 2 – Verger in River São Francisco, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Bahia, Brazil (1950).32 

 

31 Solís & Verger. Nunca Tuve la sensación Detrabajar. pp. 102. See also: Véronique Mortaigne & Pierre Fátúmbí Verger (1992,  September 15). Entretien avec Véronique Mortaigne. Le Monde.  

32 Marcel Gautherot © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

 

In 1934, together with Boucher and other photographers, Verger founded Alliance Photo in Paris,  a photographic agency that operated until 1940. The company helped him to fund his trips around  the world, and after its closing, Verger worked for several considerable magazines and  newspapers: Between 1934-1935 he worked for Paris-Soir, and from 1935 to 1936 for the Daily  Mirror in London. Later, in Latin America, he worked for Argentina Libre in 1941, and in the  following year for Mundo Argentino. In 1946 he was contracted by the Brazilian newspaper O  Cruzeiro, that helped him to obtain his first visa permit in the country. Later he worked also for  O Cruzeiro Internacional, there he was responsible also for the publication of several articles about  cultural and economic aspects, mostly in West Africa. 33 

During the years, Verger traveled and worked in North, Central and South America, the  Pacific islands in Polynesia, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Africa.34 From those substantial  traveling experiences, worth mentioning are his personal realization in Bora Bora and his long  working periods with local indigenous groups in Mexico and Peru.  

In early 1933 Verger arrived at Bora Bora, which felt to him like “the end of the world”.  There, he wanted to be, as the name of Georges Simenon’s novel, Banana Tourist.35 However,  once he settled down in his cabin, Verger saw on the wall a calendar from his family’s printing  company. He recalled that then he realized that “it was not so easy to flee, to escape.”.36 

Another important experience was his firsts working experience with indigenous group  as a photographer in Latin America. Between 1936 to 1937, Verger stayed in Mexico, where he  took photographs of the local indigenous communities that were featured in Paul Hartmann’s  book “Mexique” in 1938. In his photographs, Verger captured the life in the countryside of post 

Revolution Mexico.37 Romo remarked that those photographs, perhaps unintentionally, helped to  promote tourism in the area, but also they were demonstrating the authenticity of the indigenous  people.38 

33 Dilva Frazão. (2021, February 22). Biografia de Pierre Verger. E biografia.  

34 Gil et al. Mensageiro Entre Dois Mundos [DVD].  

35 Ibid. 50 anos de Fotografia. pp. 319.  

36 Ibid. Nunca Tuve la sensación Detrabajar. pp.101.  

37 Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. (2019). México indígena en mirada de Pierre Verger. Retrieved January 15, 2024. 

 38 Anadelia Romo (2022). Pierre Verger and the Construction of a Black Folk, 1946–1951. In Selling Black Brazil Race, Nation, and Visual  Culture in Salvador, Bahia. University of Texas Press. pp. 103. 

39 Angela Luhning. (2022). Um fotógrafo antropólogo: trajetórias transatlânticas de Pierre Fatumbi Verger. in BEROSE International  Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology, Paris. pp. 5. 

In 1940 Verger was mobilized to Senegal, as part of World War II, where he served as a  radio operator and photographer.39 In the following year he was released from the French army  and arrived in Peru, where he was contracted by the National Museum of Lima. In 1945, he  published the volume of photographs “Fiestas y danzas en el Cuzco y en los Andes” that captured  cultural preservation by representing the local indigenous groups of the Andean region.40 

Figure 3 – Fiesta de Santiago, Cusco, Peru (1939).41 

Those were Verger’s first influential works among indigenous groups. Later, working among native  groups and cultural preservation will become his main photographic and ethnographic fieldwork  in Bahia and Africa: capturing Past and Modern, popular festive gatherings, indigenous forms of  knowledge, street vendors and other spontaneous occasions that were shading lights on the life  of ordinary people.  

 

40 Romo (2022). Pierre Verger and the Construction of a Black Folk, 1946–1951. pp. 103-104.  

41 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

 

In August 1946 Verger boarded in Rio de Janeiro the last-ever sail of the small steamship Comandante Capela and arrived in Salvador da Bahia. His first photo in the city captured the church of Santo Antônio Além do Carmo, while a crane is in the center of the image, see figure 4. The French sociologist Roger Bastide, who will become Verger’s close friend, was the first to draw his attention to Bahia’s Afro-Brazilian religions and its diversity, when they met in São Paulo the same year. Before that, Verger read Jorge Amado’s notable novel, “Jubiabá”, that was his first indirect contact with Candomblé and Bahia.42 Figure 4 – Verger’s 1st photo in Salvador (1946).43 

Later in his life, Verger described Candomblé religion as “an African survival that has been  maintained right at the heart of Brazilian civilization.”.44 He developed deep connection with its  believers, until becoming one of them. Verger had a special bond with Maria Bibiana do Espírito  Santo, also known as Mãe Senhora, the third priestess of the holy Candomblé temple of Ilê Axé  Opô Afonjá in Salvador. In 1948, shortly before traveling from Bahia to West Africa, Mãe Senhora,  that was Verger’s spiritual mother, gave him a divine necklace, colored red and white to symbolize  Xangô. This gesture, as Araujo underlined, was like-a “passport” for him among Vodun and Orisha  religious leaders in West Africa.45  

After the death of Mãe Senhora in 1967, Verger encouraged and helped Balbino Daniel de  Paula to establish the new holy temple of Candomblé, Ilê Axé Opô Aganjú, in Lauro de Freitas, in  the suburbs of Salvador. Until today, Balbino, also known as Obaray de Xangô, is the first priest of  the temple and Verger’s photographs are presented in the temple.46 See figure 5, Verger’s iconic  photograph of Mãe Senhora.  

42 Gil et al. Mensageiro Entre Dois Mundos [DVD].  

43 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

44 Pierre Fátúmbí Verger (1978). African Cultural Survivals in the New World: The examples of Brazil and Cuba. The African Diaspora,  5(4), pp. 88.  

45 Ana Lucia Araujo (2013). Pierre Fátúmbí verger: Negotiating connections between Brazil and the bight of Benin. pp. 116-117.  46 Angela Lühning, personal communication, 05.03.2024. 

 

Figure 5 – Mãe Senhora in Opô Afonjá, Salvador (1948). 47 

On March 28th, 1953, Verger was initiated to Ifá as Babalaô (Yoruba diviner – the core of the oral  traditions) in the town of Ketu, the kingdom of Dahomey, nowadays Benin. Before that, he  received the religious name Oju Oba, which means the eyes of the king, from Xangô, the Orisha  of thunder and storms. During his initiation he also received his new name – Fátúmbí, which means  “the one that was reborn into Ifá”. Then, he recalled: “Pierre Verger died, and Fátúmbí was  born”.48 Looking back on his early life, Verger said:  

“The only conclusion I can draw, looking back on the years I have lived, is that I never knew very well  what I wanted. I knew on the other hand what I didn’t want. By refusing to do what I didn’t want, my life  took on a certain form, without me necessarily being aware of it.”49 

47 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

48 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 135,  

49 Lühning. (1999). Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 76. 

 

Despite the fact that he lived in turbulent era, Verger took a non-political public approach towards  the Colonialism, World War II and the dictatorships time in Brazil and Benin. I argue that even  though he didn’t support these repulsive phenomena, his silent approach, and later explanation  regarding his reserved behavior, should be critically referred. From an historical point of view,  among certain circles in Brazil, Benin and France, he was in an influential position and could have  taken a firmer stand publicly.  

Even if it wasn’t publicly, important to mention is that Verger showed solidarity with the  resistance to the military government of Brazil, at least on one occasion. As Reis showed, Verger  had long lasting professional and personal contact with Paulo de Moraes Farias, a Brazilian  historian and Africanist that was exiled from the country due to his strong opposition to the  military government that took power in 1964.50 

Farias, that first fled to West Africa and later settled in the UK, kept over the years close  connection with Verger. In their correspondence it’s clear that Verger not only assisted Farias to  obtain knowledge about Ifá and with further professional issues, but also he was supporting him  emotionally and showing solidarity with his situation, in times when Farias had high concerns for  his safety as political refugee.51 

Those correspondences can indicate that Verger public approach and personal  communication were not necessarily matching; perhaps a deeper research among his personal  notes and correspondences can reveal further expressions of his attitude towards the topics that  were mentioned above.  

One can argue that Verger’s life was characterized by a certain sense of ethical egoism, as he  was often following his own self-interest; perhaps this can also explain his a-political approach.  Moreover, he hasn’t formed a family or had long-lasting relationships. I believe that this alleged egoism wasn’t one that characterized by the inversion of altruism, but rather was an indication of  his individualist spirit.52 

50 Luiza Nascimento dos Reis (2019). O exílio africano de Paulo Farias (África Ocidental, 1964-1969). Tempo, 25(2), pp. 430.  51 Reis (2019). O exílio africano de Paulo Farias (África Ocidental, 1964-1969). pp. 448–451.  

52 Andrew Sola (2023). Egoism Versus Altruism. In Ethics and Pandemics. Springer Nature Switzerland. pp 123. 

 

During his life, Verger prioritized himself as autonomous and adopted distinctive approaches  compared to the mainstream, attributes that suggest his individualist spirit. Moreover, he kept  himself separated from the ones that could harm his goals of traveling and working, while he  constantly maintained his independence.53 Freyre once said that Verger was a “free man” because  he wasn’t obliged to academic compromises, bureaucratic ties to universities or scientific  orthodoxy. 54 

Figure 6 – Verger working, (n.d). 55 

To conclude Verger’s early life chapter, I’ve tried to manifest that one of the most profound  characteristics of his life span was his constant subtext or outspoken rebellion against society’s  conventions: ever since he was child that refused to fit into his family discipline, through his  decisions to be a nomad and work in the global South, and finally his individualist spirit that led  him to develop his unique methods, that will be discussed in the next chapter.  

53 Henri Santos., Michael Varnum & Igor Grossmann. (2017). Global increases in individualism. Psychological Science, 28(9), pp. 1228.  54 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 79-80.  

55 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

 

Without a Business Card: Unique Work and Methods  “The first time I arrived in Africa was in 1988, together with Pierre Verger. However, thanks to  his photos from Africa throughout the years, I felt that I’ve been there much before my first  physical visit.”56 

Negrizu, Interview at FPV (January 16th, 2024)  

This chapter will focus on Verger’s transcultural and humanizing work and methods, particularly  in Bahia and West Africa from the 1950’s, first as a photographer and later as a researcher. My  intention isn’t to analyze his photographical work from a professional perspective per se, but  rather to engage with his pioneering methods that have gradually developed over the years.  

 As mentioned in the previous chapter, Verger begun to work as a photographer in the early 1930’s and kept doing so for about 50 years. In this timeframe he took about 62,000 photographs, more than one-third of them were taken in Latin America, of which about 13,500 in Brazil. About 16,000 photographs were taken in Africa, of which half were in Yoruba culture countries. From the total sum, about 1,500 were color positives and the rest were in black and white, all in 6×6 format.57 

 Figure 7 – Negrizu & Verger (1988).58  

Verger photographs often captured the daily life and beauty of ordinary people that he met  spontaneously. Whether if it was a dockworker in the port, a vendor in the market or a worshipper in a festive ceremony – Verger showed through his photographs the charm and power  of the one he shot:  

“Verger captured the beauty of his subjects and especially the beauty of Black skin. By playing with light  and shadow, his camera technique made the skin of the face glow […] Verger’s portraits thus granted a  visibility to Black men and women as beautiful individuals, beautiful because of their race and skin color,  not despite it.”59 

 

56 Negrizu, personal interview at FPV, 16.01.2024.  

57 Baradel., Verger & Lody. (2002). O Olhar Viajante de Pierre Fatumbi Verger. pp. 216.  

58 © Edson Porto. 

59 Ibid. Pierre Verger and the Construction of a Black Folk, 1946–1951. pp. 123  

 

 

Figure 8 – Jovellanos, Cuba (1957).60 

Verger was not the first to use his camera to show a deeper sensation rather than just objects.  For example, Jacob Riis, the American-Danish photographer that worked for the New York Police  Department, did so already at the end of the 19th century. Riis’s photographic work focused on  the working-class immigrants of New York slums, and his work became a cornerstone in the  world of photojournalism.61  

60 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

61 Mary Strong., Laena Wilder. (2009). Documentary Photography in the Field. In Viewpoints: Visual Anthropologists at Work. University  of Texas Press. pp. 33.

 

In Riis publication, How the Other Half Lives, the shots were not spontaneous as in  Verger’s,62 but similarly they captured the life of ordinary people, with focus on closeups  photography that humanized the subjects (See figures 8, 9,13).63 More importantly, Riss and Verger  both chose to use the camera as a tool to create social change and/or show the human behind  the photograph.  

I observe that Verger work, similarly to Riis, tried to centralize marginalized people that  were repressed due to unjust reasons. Verger’s substantial work as photographer among native  and diasporic African communities in Bahia and Africa, helped to show the strength and beauty of  the people on both side of the Atlantic Ocean.  

Figure 9 – Congo (1952).64 

Moreover, some of Verger’s photographs demonstrated the powerful side of the black person,  often resemble as an ideal man: muscular laborer, strong, heroic, adonis-like. I argue that some of his photographs even have corresponding features with the image of Greek and Roman Gods,  since they show the person as an autonomous and capable individual, see figures 10, 11.65 Metzner  and Thoss emphasized his unique methods as photographer:  

“Even when documenting the poorest living situations – like on his first journey to Africa in 1935/1936 –  the people he photographed maintained their personality and dignity […] instead of looking down at  people, the lens of his Rolleiflex gazes up at them and grants the person being photographed an almost  heroic aura.”.66 

62 Kris Somerville (2015). Flowers and thugs: The slum photos of Jacob Riis. The Missouri Review, 38(2), pp. 100–102. 

63 For Verger’s closeups work, see: Alex Baradel., Pierre Fatumbi Verger. (2019). Todos Iguais, Todos Diferentes? Fundação Pierre  Verger. 

64 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

 

Figure 10 – Niger River, Gao, Mali (1935/36).67 Figure 11 – Port of São Luis, Brazil (1948).68 

I argue that Verger’s legacy was important to observe since it underlined the importance of been there, in the fieldwork, to gain respect and legitimacy from within. Once in the field, Verger believed  that there is no sense in trying to understand why certain things happened, but rather he  emphasized the importance of observing how it happened, without imposing rigid logic into it,  since it will lead to a consistent attempt to find an explanation, which he saw as a “Disease Theory”. 69 

65 Mateja Rozman. & Tadej Strehovec. (2024). The Question of Beauty and the Aesthetic Value of the Image of the Mother of God  in Pastoral Care and Catechesis. Religions (Basel, Switzerland ), 15(1).  

66 Rodriguez (2022). Pierre Fatumbi Verger United States of America, 1934 & 1937. pp. 22. For further reading about Verger’s hatred  to explanations, see: Cohen. A Disease Theory of Explanations. pp 141-145. In Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia.  

67 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

68 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

69 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 92.  

 

This approach contrasted with the zeitgeist of Western academic scholars in Bahia, led by  Melville and Frances Herskovits, that believed that a researcher should be objective, and therefore  distant from his subjects. The Herskovitses blamed Verger for destroying the “natural laboratory”  in Bahia that they thought that they discovered earlier in the beginning of the 1940s, since he was  reestablishing the lost connections between the diaspora and Africa.70 

Moreover, Sansone wrote that in Frances Herskovits’s fieldnotes from 1967, there was a clear  sense of competition that the couple felt with Verger’s work. However, as Lühning noted, Verger  referred to them with a sense of amusement,71 probably due to the couple’s different approach,  criticisms and competitive attitude. 

Verger work highlighted the interrelations between the diaspora and Africa. Due to his  extensive work over the connection between Afro-Brazilian and Africa, many regarded him as a  Messenger between the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In her article, Alberto shed light about  the role that Verger played as messenger: 

“Verger offered something substantially different from other contemporary academics in Bahia: the  possibility of renewed contacts with Africa […] Verger’s approach to the study of African-descended  people in Bahia was distinct from the dominant anthropological and sociological perspectives of the  time.”.72 

I believe that in order to understand Verger’s photography work, one should look into the book  introduction of his close friend, Bastide, that wrote: “The important thing is when progressing,  not to lose your soul, the very soul that your ancestors shaped.”. 73 While observing many of 

 

70 Anna Seiderer (2013). The legacy of Pierre Fatumbi Verger in the Whydah Historical Museum (Benin): Development of an ambivalent  concept of hybridity. History in Africa, 40(1), pp. 305. See more: Araujo (2013). Pierre Fátúmbí verger: Negotiating connections between  Brazil and the bight of Benin. pp. 118. For additional information about the Herskovitses, see: Livio Sansone. (2023). Field Station  Bahia. (Vol. 1, Ser. Africa Multiple). Brill.  

71 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 81-82.  

72 Paulina Alberto. (2011). Difference: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador da Bahia, 1950–1964. In Terms of Inclusion: Black  Intellectuals in Twentieth-Century Brazil. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 224-229.  

73 Roger Bastide. (1945). In Imagens do Nordeste Místico. forward, O Cruzeiro S.A. pp, 6. 

Verger’s photographs, the sensation of dual respect is felt, both for the subject but also for the  historical background, as Bastide suggested.  

Figure 12 – Observing Verger’s photo in Dassa-Zoumé, Benin (1948/49). 74 

Thus, corresponding with the analyzation of Wilder, who argued that photographs are generating  historical significance over the time, I claim that Verger’s photographers immortalized Afro-Bahian  culture and became part of the collective memory of many Brazilians and Africans.75 Verger once  noted:  

“Each photograph is a living, peculiar meaning, a value veering independent witness to an aesthetic  concept […] In a memorial way, photography highlights and translates a view, a feeling that becomes  the reference for a person, a place, a society, a culture. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge that I  often neglected the aesthetic side in favor of the spontaneity of expressions and scenes to be captured.”.76 

Even though he started to publish his findings only when he was about 50 years old, Verger  managed to circulate approximately 100 articles and 30 books, published in seven different  languages, until his death in 1996. He constantly claimed that his initial ambition in researching was due to his own curiosity and for the benefit of his local friends on both sides of the Atlantic  that wanted to know about their history and ancestors. In his writings, Verger dealt with a wide  variety of fields, including African poetry, medicinal plants, oral history, economics, culture and  religion, particularly of African and Afro-diasporic societies.77 

 

74 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

75 Strong., Wilder. (2009). Documentary Photography in the Field. pp. 33  

76 Ibid. O Olhar Viajante de Pierre Fatumbi Verger. pp. 215. 

77 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 127-128,  

 

Figure 13 – Salvador downtown (n.d).78 Figure 14 – Samba in Salvador (1946-1953).79 

Verger’s style of writing is characterized by a flowing, chronological and easy to read tone. His  research was based both on his practical experience around the world, but also on deep archival  review. He wrote about the “racial harmony” in Bahia, the origin of African elements in Brazil,  the importance of language and cultural preservation, diasporic religions, the trans-Atlantic slave  trade and syncretism.80 Unlike his public roaring silence regarding the phenomena mentioned  above, regarding the inhuman Africans slave trade, Verger took a firmer stand:  

“This African culture was brought across the Atlantic in the most painful conditions anyone could imagine  […] When these people arrived, they were naked, stripped of everything, free neither in their body nor in  their actions, forced to knuckle under to an alien way of life, to practice a strange religion and to speak a  foreign language.”81 

 

78 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

79 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

80 See the work of Verger in the bibliography of this article. For more, see: Angela Lühning. (1998). Pierre Fatumbi Verger e sua obra.  Afro-Ásia, Salvador, n. 21-22, 

81 Ibid. African Cultural Survivals in the New World. pp. 79.  

 

Although he often claimed that he had “no theory whatsoever”, in Cohen’s article it’s clear that  Verger did follow a certain theoretical methodological approach, especially once interacting with  people in the field. For example, Verger thought that interviews, asking questions and seeking  explanations is “pseudo-rational”, since certain things cannot be understood to an outsider –  especially in religious and spiritual contexts. Moreover, Verger emphasized the importance of  having empathy and detachment with people, which will lead to gain legitimacy from inside and  mutual respect.82 

In the only publication that can be considered as an autobiography, 50 Anos de Fotografia,  Verger employed an analogy about business cards, to demonstrate his irritation from what he  thought as “respectable people” that he defined as “empty and boring”.83 

In this analogy, I argue that Verger tried to illustrate his strong alienation from conformism,  Western knowledge production and intellectuals that are using business cards. He often  expressed an antagonistic approach towards the Northen-based academia, materialism, and linear  way of knowledge production. To sum this chapter,  

I argue that Verger’s unique and pioneering methods created an intimate, deep and special connection with the people he met in the field.  

More importantly, he managed to achieve his goal of centralized marginalized communities while he always emphasized the other beauty and power, without ever othering the so-called subjects.84 

Figure 15 – Verger in his house, Salvador (n.d).85 

 

82 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist, pp. 129-145.  

83 Ibid. 50 anos de Fotografia. pp. 318.  

84 Gabriele Griffin. (2017). Othering. Oxford Reference.  

85 Anonymus © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

 

Who knows Pierre Verger? A Complex Legacy  

“Pierre Verger was part of a very special niche of white authors and artists that gained and  maintained vast respect in Black horizons of Bahia, especially thanks to his strong relation with  the divine and powerful Orishas of the Candomblé.”86 

Sansone, personal communication (January 17th, 2024)  

As the name of this chapter may suggest, Verger’s legacy didn’t take singular way and his figure is  still perceived differently around the world nowadays.87 While many Western scholars that  arrived at the global South has strengthened the academic imperialism by looking at the North as  the producer of theories and the South as the data provider,88 I claim that Verger’s legacy is  showing the vice versa, due to his unique methods, theories and practice.  

In his article, Alatas described academic imperialism as the “domination of one people by  another in their world of thinking”. He emphasized that this type of imperialism doesn’t differ  from its political or economic counterparts, since they all have monopolistic control over the  flows and nature of the ones that have been imperialized. In other words, academic imperialism  is the Northern annexation of knowledge production and epistemological liberty of the South.89 

Cohen pointed out that academic imperialism is still active among scholars nowadays. Often,  he described, foreigner researchers are arriving to the global South seeking to extract information  from the locals, in favor of their personal goals, such as obtaining degrees or writing a book; which  make it a colonialist approach in a sense. However, Cohen emphasized that Verger managed to  overcome this approach, since his goals were equal or highly considering the locals.90 

Due to his work, Verger gained over the years more admiration and recognition among the  people of Brazil and West Africa, rather from global North intellectuals. In Bahia, he was  considered by the locals as a “true brother – a white brother,”, to such an extent that Amado once said that he was seriously asked whether Verger was a real person or a Bahian folklore  invention.91  

86 Livio Sansone, personal communication, 17.01.2024  

87 Peter Cohen, personal interview at FPV, 21.02.2024. See more: Angela Lühning, personal Interview at FPV, 15.01.2024. Araujo.  Negotiating connections between Brazil and the bight of Benin. Seiderer. The legacy of Pierre Fatumbi Verger in the Whydah Historical  Museum (Benin). Brivio, Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun. Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist.  88 Lacin Oztig. (2022). The Global North/South Inequalities in the IR discipline: Some reflections and insights. Alternatives: Global, Local,  Political, 47(2), pp. 123  

89 Syed Farid Alatas (2003). Academic dependency and the Global Division of Labour in the Social Sciences. Current Sociology, 51(6),  pp. 601.  

90 Peter Cohen, personal interview at FPV, 21.02.2024. 

91 For both quotations, see: Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp.136.

 

The Bahian artist Negrizu met Verger in the late 1970s, when Brazil’s Military dictatorship  was in power. He stated that then “racism and oppression of the Afro-Brazilian was at its peak”.  However, Negrizu argued that Verger was an example of an alternative way to create human  relations that “united the people”, referring to the repression of colored people in Salvador of  that time, due to his modest and humanistic approach.92 

After Verger’s passing, the Brazilian newspaper Folha do S. Paulo shared respect to his memory  by publishing articles over his work, including a page of his portrait photo (figure 16),93 while  simultaneously “in France his passing went almost unnoticed.”.94 Moreover, in a movie about the  life of Mestre Moa, capoeira tutor and famous Bahian cultural figure, he sang a song that he wrote  about Verger.95 Below are the original lyrics in Portuguese and the translated version in English:  

♫ Babalaô, the mister who knows  the secrets of the world,  

Xangô brought you here  

with no more than a gaze  

[…]  

Hey, Verger  

The holy Bahia happily praise you  Hey, Verger [x4]  

Feed the African roots from here  Hey, Verger [x3]  

May Ifá’s magic blesses your Ori. ♫ 

♫ Babalaô, o senhor que conhece  os segredos do mundo,  

Foi Xangô quem te trouxe  

num sopro de olhar  

[…]  

Ê Verger,  

a Bahia sagrada te exalta, feliz.  Ê Verger [x4]  

Alimente a raiz Africana daqui.  Ê Verger [x3]  

Que a magia de Ifá abençoe seu Ori. ♫

92 Negrizu, personal interview at FPV, 16.01.2024.  

93 Mario Cravo Neto. (1996, February 18). O filho do trovão. Mais!.  94 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 128.  

95 Filipe Machado & Gustavo McNair. (2023). MÔA, RAIZ AFRO MÃE [DVD].  

 

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Verger got immense respect among the people he met  in Africa. The King of Sakété in Benin said about him: “Fátúmbí was no outsider here; he was  100% Sakétéan. He stayed with the people; he did everything with the people. He knew all the  secrets of Sakété and all the cults. He proved his fidelity with everyone,”, and the king of Oshogbo  in Nigeria affirmed this sensation by saying that Verger “was part of the family.”.96 

Figure 16 – Verger’s Obituary homage.97 

In her article, Araújo stated that since most of his scholarly work wasn’t translated into English,  Verger stayed an unfamiliar figure among English-speaking academic circles.98 While agreeing that  his work is still not known sufficiently in the Anglophone academic world, I claim that the reason  is profoundly different. During his life, at least 25 of Verger’s original works were either published  or translated into English – unarguably, enough publications to gain wide academic esteem.99 

96 For both quotations, see: Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp.136. To grasp Verger’s highly appreciated figure in Bahia  and Africa, see: A Fieldwork Agenda of Communion, in Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist.  

97 Folha de S.Paulo (1996, February 18). O filho do trovão. Mais!  

98 Ibid. Negotiating connections between Brazil and the bight of Benin. pp. 114.  

99 Lühning. (1998). Pierre Fatumbi Verger e sua obra. Afro-Ásia, Salvador, n. 21-22,

 

Thus, I argue that his unique methods and rebellious rejection to Western discipline of  knowledge production were more likely to be the reasons for his neglection in the world of  English-speaking intellectuals. The following quote demonstrates the radical distinctive approach  Verger had, compared to other Western scholars:  

“While most social scientists arrive in the field armed with years of academic training and specific research  objectives, in Verger’s case it was the other way around – his field experience led him into academia.  Participant-observation was for him not a tool, but an end in itself.”100 

In his article, Rosa claimed that many global South intellectuals are imposing Western theories in  their countries of origin, which helped to strength the academic imperialism. He argued that plenty  of social scientists from the South do not prioritize endogenous forms of knowledge production  but rather are avoiding being in the field. Therefore, Rosa argued, many Southern scholars are  promoting the ideas of the global North, while they are preventing the development of local  epistemological theories in the South.101 

I suggest that Verger’s legacy indicates the opposite of Rosa’s analyzation. Even though he was  born in Paris and worked most of his life in the global South, Verger adopted the nature of the  people he lived among in Brazil and Africa. His publications, as researcher and photographer,  functioned as a bridge between diverse viewers, and managed to emphasize cross-cultural unity,  while maintaining mutual respect. Moreover, his stubborn approach that promoted local  endogenous knowledge, has helped to the development of independent thinking flows in Africa  and Bahia.102 

In his article, Green highlighted that “when theory meets practice, practice usually wins.”103 Verger’s methodological approach was described by Brivio as “radically different” compared to  the academy mainstream, since he favored observation over questions, practices over words, and  he preferred begin in the field rather than to stay distant.104 The following quote of Verger can  demonstrate his strong antagonistic approach towards Western academy:  

100 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 135.  

101 Marcelo Rosa. (2014). Theories of the south: Limits and perspectives of an emergent movement in Social Sciences. Current Sociology,  62(6), pp. 862.  

102 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 92.  

103 Toby Green. (2019). North-South Dynamics in Academia. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 31(3), pp. 281.  104 Ibid, Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun. pp. 282. 

 

Ethnologist or Anthropologist, what awful words! You don’t study people; they’re not minerals or insects. I  am fascinated by people because I love them. I meet them not to study, but to learn.”105 

Brivio noted in her article that during his life Verger has lost the support of most Northen-based  academy, especially after his initiation to Ifá in 1953. However, she argued, Verger simultaneously  gained the respect of African people and religious leaders. As shown in her article, his empathic  engagement and close ties with the people he lived among has made some scholars to renounce  his work.106 

Figure 17 – Verger somewhere in Nigeria (1952).107 

Brivio emphasized that the rejection from Western academy appealed to Verger, and he was  actually “proud of his marginal and liminal position.”.108 Verger’s abhorrence feelings towards  academic knowledge production can be understood from his following quote: 

 “[W]e live in a veritable civilization of parrots. We blindly repeat texts that have been published. If  someone writes a piece of junk, it is more or less certain that that piece of junk will be repeated and  amplified. And because it was accompanied by references, page numbers, and editors’ names, [such a  citation looks] very serious and erudite. And it becomes very difficult to refute later.”109 

105 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 145.  

106 Ibid, Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun. pp. 281-282.  

107 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

108 Ibid, Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun. pp. 281-282.  

109 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 142. 

 

In 1966 Verger obtained his third cycle doctoral from Sorbonne University in Paris, without ever  attending an academic class.110 He submitted his thesis, supervised by Paul Mercier, on the slave  trade between the Bight of Benin and Bahia from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The manuscript  of 1440 pages was based on his experiences on both sides of the Atlantic and deep archival  research. Araujo argued that in 1972, once Verger received all his official academic titles, he  realized that he won’t be able to enjoy the privileges of his position, due to his elderly age. This  may explain why in the same year Verger wrote a letter to Denis Dohou, Director of the Ouidah  Historical Museum, in which he signed as “ex-researcher” and renounced all his academic titles in  a similar way.111 On another occasion, Verger provocatively said:  

“That’s right, I have become a true conformist. I seek Yoruba titles and honors while I have nothing but  contempt for those that I might obtain from my own social milieu.”.112 

Verger strongly criticized theory-driven research since he thought that most academics have the  desire to confirm the ideas that they had before starting their research. In addition, he objected  to the idea of scholars arriving in the field with limited time and restricted research funding, since  they are obliged to find answers faster than possible. Finally, Verger strongly opposed to the  publication of articles in languages that the local societies won’t understand, and therefore won’t  be able to refute or validate the conclusions.113 Lühning outlined it:  

“Fatumbí was one of a rare but essential breed in the world of science: he demonstrated that it is both  possible and necessary to do research not just with the head, but also with the heart […] His empathetic  research unquestionably led him into approaches and styles that were highly unusual and innovative.  Fatumbí’s life and work is simply human, as much in its origin as in its application, its essence and its  medium.”.114 

Thus, I claim that Verger’s unique working approach was tackling epistemological theories from a  North-South perspective, and perhaps even was the cause to the neglection of his legacy among  some scholars in the North-based academy. As Baradel claimed: “Verger was a man ahead of his time, but even today his approach is not yet to be widely accepted.”.115 Corresponding with that,  Rodriguez stated:  

“[Verger’s] work stands in contrast with the White, Western, Catholic and colonial approach to  representation that was based on an idea of intellectual, political, religious and ethnic superiority, and of  heterosexuality and exoticism.”116 

 

110 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 146.  

111Araujo. Negotiating connections between Brazil and the bight of Benin. pp. 121.  

112 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 134.  

113 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 142.  

114 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 93. 

 

During his life Verger created a substantial legacy, most of it was produced at or for the people  the global South. He worked in abundance together with non-Western universities, intellectuals  and publications. Lühning wrote about this deep engagement; in the 1950s Verger became an  Associated Member at the University of Ibadan   (Previously known as University College Ibadan), later he worked for the Department of Antiquities   of the Nigerian government, and he also maintained close relation with the Nigerian Historical Society. Furthermore, Verger collaborated with the Extra Mural Department of University of Ibadan, the first ever university of Nigeria. Between 1976 to 1979 he was hired as a visiting professor at the University of Ile Ifé, today known as Obafemi Awolowo University.117 

Figure 18 – Banaue, Philippines (1937/38).118 

In 1979 Verger was accused by some Nigerian lawmen that he robbed and smuggled out of the  country the head of Olokun, a bronze sculpture from the ancient Yoruba city of Ifé. He was  arrested for a couple of days, just for an official examination to detect that the piece, which was  located in the house of his friend, Carybé, in Salvador, was a plaster replica of the original  sculpture.119 

115 Alex Baradel, personal Interview at FPV, 15.01.2024.  

116 Rodriguez. Pierre Fatumbi Verger United States of America. pp. 22.  

117 Angela Luhning. (2022). Um fotógrafo antropólogo: trajetórias transatlânticas de Pierre Fatumbi Verger. pp. 14-16.  118 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger. 

119 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 88. 

 

After this harsh experience, Verger never returned to Nigeria but rather established more  profound connections with the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). Prior to that, in 1975, he was  hired by UFBA to create the collection of artifacts for the future planed Museu Afro-Brasileiro (MAFRO) in Salvador. Supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Verger acquired a  large part of the pieces that are still displayed in the museum today. Thanks to his position in  MAFRO, Verger was incorporated into the staff of UFBA, but he wasn’t carrying out lectures at  the university. At the same time, from the 1980s onwards, he focused on publishing some of his  most important books in Portuguese together with Corrupio Edition House, an all-female  independent publisher from Salvador.120 

Figure 19 – Verger in Cotonou, Benin (n.d).121 

Besides his photographic and scholarly work in the global South, Verger took crucial part in the  foundation of the MAFRO and cultural space of Casa do Benin in Salvador. Additionally, he helped  organizing the Vodun festival “Ouidah 92” and the Ouidah Historical Museum in Benin.122 

120 Luhning. Um fotógrafo antropólogo. pp. 17-18.  

121 Photo Pierre Verger © Fundação Pierre Verger.  

122 Ibid. Negotiating connections between Brazil and the bight of Benin. pp. 132. See more: The legacy of Pierre Fatumbi Verger in the  Whydah Historical Museum (Benin). pp. 296. 

 

Rodriguez highlighted-that Verger’s work was important to such an extent that it was assisting to  the increase of international exchanges between Brazil and Africa.123 

In 1988 Verger established “Fundação Pierre Verger” in his home, located in the working class neighborhood Engenho Velho de Brotas, in Salvador. After his death, the foundation has  extended into “Espaço Cultural Pierre Verger” that functions as educational and cultural hub for  the people of the area.124 

To conclude Verger’s legacy chapter, I recalled one personal experience I had in Salvador:  while walking in the city, I have encountered an elderly man that wore a T-shirt featuring one of  Verger’s photographs. I approached and complimented him on his shirt, so he asked me if I knew  the artist. I replied: “Yes! It’s Pierre Verger,”, so he answered:  

“You are right, he took that photo. Pierre Verger, Jorge Amado, Carybé… What a wonderful generation…  they did so much for Bahian culture… I was born here in Salvador, but Verger… this man… he was  more Baiano than me…”.125 

Finally, I want to emphasize that the vast respect that Verger is rightly obtaining in Bahia and Africa  can also indicate a sensation of idolism that created around his figure. As Sansone said: “Verger  became to be like a God in Salvador.”.126 This might be dangerous since his work won’t be looked  critically enough by local scholars and artists.  

To sum up this chapter, I strived to show that Verger’s approach was innovative, grounded,  connected and different from other scholars of his time and even today. In the subtext of this  chapter, one can understand my attempt to suggest that Verger’s highly considering methods  were that unique, to the extent that I argue that contemporary African Studies academics should  learn from his approaches. The acknowledgment of his legacy, methodology and practice are much  needed to understand better the dynamics between the North and South from a perspective of  knowledge production and human relation in the fieldwork. 

123 Ibid Pierre Fatumbi Verger United States of America. pp. 23.  

124 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger: a view from Bahia. pp. 76-89.  

125 Personal occasion, 19th of December 2023.  

126 Livio Sansone, personal communication, 17.01.2024 

 

Conclusion 

“You already know enough. So do I. It is not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage  to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.”127 

Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes (1992)  

In this article I attempted to demonstrate that Verger’s unique working methods were an example  of the trajectory of his life. I argue that his legacy manifests an important lesson to researchers  from a global North-South power relation and knowledge production perspective. In his article about global dynamics in academy, Green underlined that: “old patterns cannot work to solve  new and ever more intractable problems. New patterns are needed.”128 

Thus, Verger’s approach towards the people of Bahia and Africa, which often were the  subjects of his photography or scholarly work, is an example of shifting a theory of equality and  consideration into practice. I claim that his legacy indicates that there is an alternative to the  current approaches in which academical research is often made. As Cohen noted:  

“Verger’s career clearly raises questions about the criteria by which a researcher acquires legitimacy and  by which anthropological knowledge is produced. Furthermore, despite his unusual professional history  and antagonistic position towards Western academia, Verger’s personal statements convey a clear and  consistent theoretical and methodological position, which can be perceived in virtually every aspect of his  knowledge production process; from the relationship to subjects in the field to the presentation of data.”129 

This claim has additional validity considering Verger’s background as a white man that was born  to a privileged family but dedicated his life to promote the values and nature of the people in the  global South. Therefore, unlike most Northen scholars that worked in the South, Verger gained  tremendous respect among the people he lived among in West Africa and Brazil. As Baradel  pointed out: “Verger’s legacy is a symbol of meeting point: it shows how diverse people can meet  and coexist together, with mutual respect to each other.”.130 

127 Sven Lindqvist. (1996). “Exterminate All the Brutes” One Man’s Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European  Genocide. (J. Tate, Trans.). The New Press. pp. 2.  

128 Green. (2019). North-South Dynamics in Academia. pp. 283  

129 Ibid. Pierre Fátúmbí Verger as Social Scientist. pp. 134.  

130 Alex Baradel, personal Interview at FPV, 15.01.2024. 

 

Finally, in a personal meeting with Moshe Morad, an Israeli researcher that worked  extensively in the global South, we spoke about global dynamics, fieldwork in the South, the nature  of academic work and about Verger. Morad pointed out that one of the toughest challenges for a  researcher to do is to make sure that the people in the fieldwork, even if they are outside of  his/her social and cultural world of origin, won’t feel like they are others, different or exotics.131 

Corresponding with that, I argue that this was one of Verger’s most profound virtue as a  photographer, researcher and above all as a person – he never made the others to feel like they  were others. 

131 Moshe Morad, personal meeting at Tel Aviv, 26.09.2023. 

 

Acknowledgment  

I want to dedicate a very special thanks to the entire staff of Fundação Pierre Verger for hosting me  in their working space, Verger’s old home, that became my second home. A special thanks goes  to Alex Baradel, Alexandre San Goes, Angela Lühning and Guilherme de Aragão from the  foundation. Alexandre, with his professional eyes and wise feedback, was the one that helped me  to choose which photographs would be featured in this paper and for this I am very thankful.  

The foundation’s staff helped me throughout my research, scientifically and emotionally, to  get to know Verger’s figure and stay positive while I am away from home. It’s important to  mention that they never prevented me from asking tough questions or raising criticism when  necessary.  

Moreover, I would like to thank the four interviewees that dedicated their time and wisdom  to help me to comprehend Verger better: Alex Baradel, Angela Lühning, Negrizu and Peter  Cohen. Finally, I show great gratitude to Dmitri van den Bersselaar from Leipzig University for his  support before my travel to Brazil, but also since he was the first one to introduce me to the  work of Verger.  

On a personal note, my half-year in Brazil was particularly hard time for me due to the  breakout of war on October 7th, 2023, in Israel-Gaza. Throughout the research a dreadful feeling  accompanied me, due to the concerns for my family, friends and all affected people in the region  that I was born and grew up. Thus, this article is dedicated to my family and friends in Israel, and  to all the innocent people who lost their lives during this horrible war. You were on my mind at  every moment of creating this paper and I am wishing for better days to come. 

 

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