#body scarification

[junglesinparis]

Photos: Drew Doggett

"In Ethiopia's Omo Valley, resident tribes break the skin in ways that cannot be undone. Cicatrization (or body scarification) is a traditional practice, and when a young woman's breast is pierced with an acacia thorn, it is done deliberately and in elaborate patterns. These wounds become permanent, hardening over time into scars that are thought not to diminish her attractiveness but to enhance it."

Read more at Jungles in Paris

[cascading-sunsets]

Guys my brand looks really gross today it might just be the melted skin but i mean idk i didnt expect it to look gross i just assumed it would look cool from the start

[the-two-germanys]

Mother and child. "M'bowaka Type, Équateur, Congo." Postcard, ca. 1920.

[the-two-germanys]

A Bakuto who came to Loango to see Nzambi Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort People of the French Congo Richard Edward Dennett London: Publications of the Folk-Lore Society, 1897

[maple23]

A) This series of photographs depicts the process of facial scarification. First, the scar pattern is divined with cowrie shells cast into a water pot. B) Next, the child is placed on a bed of leaves and then the cutting begins on the temple. Every child I witnessed being cut screamed and writhed in pain. One passed out halfway through the cutting, but he regained consciousness towards the end and resumed his bloodcurdling cries. C) Finally, once the shea butter is applied to the wounds for healing, every child seemingly fell fast asleep which was a calming sight. I can only imagine how my body would react to such a surge of physical and emotional shock especially at such a young age!

Lars Krutak - SCARIFICATION AND TATTOOING IN BENIN: THE BÉTAMARRIBÉ TRIBE OF THE ATAKORA MOUNTAINS