Voodoo Rituals in Haiti

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In 1998, 16 years after he first became interested in visiting Haiti, photographer Anthony Karen made his first of what would be many trips to the Caribbean country. In the early 1980s, Karen had seen a documentary about the Creole pig in Haiti. The documentary focused on the United States’ role in the pigs’ eradication due to an outbreak of swine flu in neighboring Dominican Republic and subsequent fear of the U.S. pork industry being devastated.

But it was the references throughout the documentary of the Creole pig’s role in some Voodoo rituals that really caught Karen’s attention. “The documentary … portrayed [the Voodoo rituals] as very dark and cloaked in mystery; that combined with Haiti being ranked the most dangerous place in the Western Hemisphere, I felt compelled to go,” Karen wrote via email.

That attitude shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Karen’s work. He’s never afraid to go after taboo subjects, such as his work with the Ku Klux Klan, which was featured on Slate in August.

Karen’s travels to Haiti are often for medical missions and volunteer work. During those trips, he also found time to approach people about his interest in attending a Voodoo ceremony. Karen didn’t feel comfortable getting into a private space and photographing the ceremony during his first trip, but as his comfort slowly increased, he began to document the rituals.