Baianas celebrate Santa Barbara, Lansa and Oya- Salvador de Bahia
On Santa Barbara day the Baianas dress in red and white to both comemorate the Saint Barbara but also their Candomblé’s Orixá ancient African king of Oyô. I have taken some amazing photographs of the Bahia women in the white lace dresses and big almost turban like hats. The ladies are like something out of the last century. They wear these enormous dresses with hoops round their hips which make them look ten times bigger than they really are. The black of their faces contrasts fabulously with the white or coloured dresses. Some wear white lace trousers underneath their dresses reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel. The Baianas love their photograph being taken and so will pose happily for everyone. Some want paid as they have dressed up especially for you. During any festival and there are many in Bahia, it is always a rush and a push as photo journalists and would be photographers jostle for the best position. I have found that if you give people a copy of the photo you will be rewarded by a clamour of people wanting their own photos. Santa Barbara saint of both the fire brigade and of the markets, St Barbara, is known in the Candomblé religion as the queen of thunder and lightning.
The Bananas (ladies from the Brazilian state of Bahia) celebrate the Catholic Festa de Santa Barbara, dedicated not just to the saint but to the goddess Lansã also known as Oya the goddess of winds and storms.
