Every January 10, dozens of them meet in this former slave port in Benin located on the Atlantic Ocean to celebrate the goddess of the sea.
In parallel with monotheistic religions, such as Christianity or Islam, some Beninese also practice voodoo. For the national voodoo festival on January 10, its followers go to the beaches of Ouidah, a town located 80 kilometers from Porto-Novo, in the far south of the country. There, they pay homage to Mami Wata, the goddess of the sea, one of their deities.
Photographer Yanick Folly attended this ceremony. Six photos illustrate this point.