Alberto Venzago (b. 1950) grew up in a strict Catholic environment. From this background, he developed a fascination with rituals, oracles, and magic. While crossing Africa on his Vespa in 1988, he found himself stranded outside a Voodoo monastery in Ouidah. Over the next twelve years, he would return there often, staying for months at a time to shoot his first feature film, Mounted by the Gods. The spirit beings and ceremonies of the Voodoo religion, and especially the search for and enthronement of a supreme priest, reveal a complex, ageold community of faith. On his last trip to Ouidah, Venzago took photos with a Hasselblad medium-format camera (6 × 6 cm). This image shows twin brothers in festive dress outside the most sacred “Temple of the Python” just before a procession. Twins are considered lucky charms in the Voodoo religion, transferring their magical powers to one another. Alberto Venzago is still today closely associated with the monastic community in Ouidah.
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