Village on Lake Nokwe, Ganvie, Benin

"The basic housing unit in Ganvie is a rectangular structure built of a framework of mangrove. The house always has access to an outside platform where most of the daytime social activity takes place. Nets and traps are repaired there and many vertical poles extend above the platform from which the nets may be hung. The houses in Ganvie are admirably adapted to provide the best possible comfort conditions from the available materials which are all obtained from the trees and grass of the region." [Danby M., 1971: Shelter in Africa, pg 36-45. New York: Praeger]. 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.