Dolo, the blacksmith, Ogol du Haut village, Mali

"Blacksmiths, irine, and their wives, live amongst the Dogon, although their houses are always at the peripheries of a settlement. When a smith wishes to establish himself, after years of apprenticeship with his father, he requests dwelling and forge space from the village of his choice. Aside from their integral role in the Dogon economy, blacksmiths are responsible for carving ritual statues in wood, and their wives make the pots, wone, used in ancestral shrines, but do not make other pots." [Lane P., 1988: Settlement as History: A Study of Space and Time amog the Dogon of Mali, University of Cambridge]. The photograph depicts Dolo, the blacksmith and wood carver of Ogol du Haut village, and his son forging iron tools. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in the Sanga region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.