Stone-edged fields, Ogol du Haut village, Mali

"Along the rocky and barren plateau, Dogon farmers have created onions gardens from nothing. They haul bags of soil to the cliff and plateau from the riverbank far away to build these terraced fields. Rocks piled around the terraces trap the precious topsoil and prevent it from washing away during the rainy season's torrential downpours." [Hollyman S. and Van Beek W., 2001: Dogon, Africa's People of the Cliffs. Harry N Abrams, Inc.]. During his trip to Mali, Elisofon visited the Dogon people in Sanga (Sangha), a group of thirteen villages lying east of Bandiagara at the top of an escarpment. The most important villages are Ogol-du-Haut and Ogol-du-Bas. 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.