Femmes Aux Scarifications / woman with Sacrifications

In this portait taken in Philippe Koudjina's studio, a young woman is looking straight at the objective. Her forehead presents scarifications evoking the batamaris people from northern Togo. In the early 1960s, national of Togo (then Dahomey) made up the most numerous foreigners community in Niamey, strong of 19% of the overal population of the capital. Face tatoos and scarring have been used for centuries as a form of ethnic and cultural identity in West African, however it has gradually been abandoned to the point that it is currently almost inexistent.