Dieu-Nalio Chery

Photographer + Photojournalist+Writer+Videographer

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Vodou in Haiti

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School: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism

In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, a V...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, a Vodou believer walks to Baron Samedi's tomb during the annual Vodou festival Fete Gede at Cite Soleil Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Every year, during the celebration, they paint their faces with white powder, wear the loas’ clothes, travel the narrowly pathways through the shanty town and go to cemeteries to pay tribute to the spirits.( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Foods and candles stand under t...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Foods and candles stand under the cross of Baron Samdi during a Vodou ritual that pays tribute to Baron Samdi and the Gede family of spirits during Day of the Dead celebrations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

A Vodou priestess removes bad l...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

A Vodou priestess removes bad luck from a man at the national cemetery during ceremonies honoring the Haitian Vodou spirit of Baron Samdi and Gede on the Day of the Dead, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Followers of Vodou with their faces covered in white powder, wearing hats and dressed in black, white and purple clothes join the Fete Gede celebration of the spirits equivalent to the Roman Catholic festivity of the Day of the Dead and Day of All Saints. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

A Vodou believer dressed as a G...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

A Vodou believer dressed as a Gede, or spirit stands at the top of Baron Samedi’s cross while he takes part in a Vodou holiday dedicated to Baron Samedi and the Gede family of spirits of the dead during Day of the Dead celebrations in a national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. (Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Fede Ketly, 35, poses for a pic...u Nalio Chery) Petion-Ville HTI

Fede Ketly, 35, poses for a picture while she takes part in a Vodou holiday dedicated to Baron Samedi and the Gede family of spirits of the dead during Day of the Dead celebrations in Kay Mambo Lamesy in Petion-Ville, Haiti, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Petion-Ville HTI

The National Director of Ethnol...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

The National Director of Ethnology Bureau, Herold Josue, center, leads a Vodou ceremony marking the 5th anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake, at National Ethnology Bureau in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Jan. 12, 2015. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, Vod...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, Vodou believers who are supposed to be possessed with Gede spirit parade in the middle of the tombs during the annual Vodou festival Fete Gede at Cite Soleil Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Every year, during the celebration, they paint their faces with white powder, wear the loas’ clothes, travel the narrowly pathways through the shanty town and go to cemeteries to pay tribute to the spirits.( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Vodou believers put the coffin ...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Vodou believers put the coffin of Vodou chief Max Beauvoir in a grave after his funeral ceremony in his home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Vodou believers touch the cross...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Vodou believers touch the cross that represented Baron Samdi during Day of the Dead celebrations in the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. Devotees of Vodou honor the Gede as well as their dead relatives by wearing white, black or purple and by making offerings of candles, food and alcohol at cemeteries on Nov. 1 and 2. (Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Mi...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Mimose Bernard, 44, a Vodou believer, poses for a picture as she invokes a “Gede” spirit before Haiti’s annual Vodou festival, Fete Gede, in Cite Soleil slum, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “I remember that I had 10 years when I first invoked the Gede spirit”, says Bernard who lives with her child in a tiny home that was built with old metal sheets, where some images of Vodou are part of the decoration and her bed with some clothes holding full the room. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Oct. 27, 2018 photo, Mi...Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

In this Oct. 27, 2018 photo, Mimose Bernard, 44, a Vodou believer, invokes a "Gede" spirit during Haiti's annual Vodou festival Fete Gede, in Cite Soleil slum, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Auguste, 59 years old, and her husband, Raynold Alexandre, are well-known Vodou priests, and three of their six children are also Vodou priests too. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Vodou pilgrims bathe in a water... Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Vodou pilgrims bathe in a waterfall believed to have purifying powers during the annual celebration in Saut d' Eau, Haiti, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Tens of thousands of Haitians make the pilgrimage to bathe in the sacred waterfalls. A mix of Vodou and Christian faithful along with a cohort of young, hard-partying revelers gathered Saturday in the rushing waters of Saut d'Eau, where they scrubbed their bodies with aromatic leaves and soap.( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Vodou pilgrims heat aromatic le... Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Vodou pilgrims heat aromatic leaves before bathing in a waterfall believed to have purifying powers during the annual celebration in Saut d' Eau, Haiti, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Tens of thousands of Haitians make the pilgrimage to bathe in the sacred waterfalls. A mix of Vodou and Christian faithful, along with a cohort of young, hard-partying revelers, gathered Saturday in the rushing waters of Saut d'Eau, where they scrubbed their bodies with aromatic leaves and soap. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

In this picture taken July 14, ... Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

In this picture taken July 14, 2012. a Pilgrim bathes in a waterfall believed to have purifying powers in Saut d' Eau, Haiti. The annual pilgrimage is made in honor of Haiti's most celebrated patron saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Legend has it that she appeared on a palm tree in 1847 in the Palms Grove in Saut d'Eau and was integrated into Haiti's voodoo culture as the goddess of love, Ezili Danto. ( Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

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Thumbnail of In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, a Vo_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of Foods and candles stand under th_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of A Vodou priestess removes bad lu_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of A Vodou believer dressed as a Ge_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of Fede Ketly, 35, poses for a pict_eu Nalio Chery) Petion-Ville HTI

Thumbnail of The National Director of Ethnolo_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of In this Nov. 1, 2018 photo, Vodo_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of Vodou believers put the coffin o_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of Vodou believers touch the cross _ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Mim_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of In this Oct. 27, 2018 photo, Mim_ Nalio Chery) Port-au-Prince HTI

Thumbnail of Vodou pilgrims bathe in a waterf_o Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Thumbnail of Vodou pilgrims heat aromatic lea_o Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Thumbnail of In this picture taken July 14, 2_o Chery) Saut d' Eau HTI

Public Project

Vodou in Haiti

Copyright Dieu-Nalio Chery 2024

Date of Work Jan 2012 - Ongoing

Updated Mar 2022

Topics Culture, Documentary, Essays, Identity, Photography, Religion

Summary

Vodou in Haiti is a short visual essay on Vodou practitioners and believers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

For centuries Haitians have practiced Vodou – a religion that is often misunderstood, misrepresented, and stigmatized. Voodoo evolved in the 17th century among African slaves and incorporates elements of the Roman Catholic faith that was forced upon them by French colonizers and transported to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then).
Vodou practitioners create devotional objects and participate in ceremonies with traditional drumming songs, dance, and spirit possession. Peristyles are a rendezvous for Vodou priests (oungans) and priestesses (mambos) to pay tribute to spirits, Lwas”, that they serve as well as a gathering point for strengthening cultural bonds.

Dieu-Nalio Chery / Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Aug 1, 2010 - Jan 1, 2013

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