Eliot Elisofon photographing the village Mosque. San village, Mali

"The Great Mosque (1909) at Djenne, based on the indigenous Manding heritage, represents a development of sub-Saharan building that has come to be regarded as the synthesis of local regional design. The building became a prototype for many subsequent mosques, including those at San, Segou and Mopti." [Frishman M. and Khan H.-U., 1994: The Mosque. Thames and London Ltd.]. 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.