LAROYE

The tropical port city of of Salvador, in Bahia, is one of Brazil's largest urban regions, and one of its poorest. It is also home of the Yoruba candomble, a religious practice of the African diaspora in Brazil, and the purest source of Yoruban culture in the Americas. Native photographer Mario Cravo Neto dedicates this book to the Yoruban deity Exu Maragbo by calling it 'Laroye', the Yoruban salutation to Exu, invoking his presence and powers. After a career of publishing his remarkable black-and-white photographs, Mario Cravo Neto reveals a previously unknown aspect of his work in 'Laroye': stunning color photographs of the people and places of his native Bahia. Beaches and markets, crowded streets, old buildings, children and adults, days and nights merge together in these colorful images that are suffused with the spirit of Exu. A gorgeous book of full-bleed, stunningly powerful images.