Eliot Elisofon and cameraman George Bracher filming renowned woodcarver Lamidi Olonade Fakeye, Ibadan, Nigeria

The photograph depicts Eliot Elisofon and cameraman George Bracher filming renowned woodcarver Lamidi Olonade Fakeye standing by Epa headdress he carved. The headdress images a celebration of Iyabeji ('Mother of Twins'). "Epa and Elefon festivals are held throughout northern and southern Ekiti towns. Both terms vary regionally but they always refer to the same festival phenomenon - the celebration of social roles upon which the life of a Yoruba town depends. While an Epa carving may be placed on a shrine throughout most of the year receiving annual offerings and prayers from the elders of the house in which he resides, only when it 'comes out' does it, from a Yoruba pont of view, become 'complete' as a work of art, achieving that for which it was created." [Drewal H. J., Pemberton J. III, Rowland Abiodun, 1989: Yoruba. Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought; The Carvers of the Northeast. Harry N. Abrams Inc.]. This photograph was taken by Maya Bracher when she traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971. She was on assignment for Eliot Elisofon when he wrote, produced, and directed a four-hour television series for Group W (Westinghouse Broadcasting Company) titled Black African Heritage (1973). The series was divided into four segments, lasting 50 minutes each: The Congo, The Bend of the Niger, The Slave Coast, and Africa's Gift.