In the early years, we had no idea that we were going to spend the rest of our lives crisscrossing the continent, photographing traditional ceremonies and producing books. The prospect would have been overwhelming."
Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
Our Story
Over fifty years of work on the African continent have carried Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher across 300,000 miles in exploration of more than 150 cultural groups from 40 different countries. Having been granted unprecedented access to sacred African rituals and ceremonies rarely documented or seen by the outside world, they have been instrumental in preserving the vanishing cultural practices and heritage of African peoples. Their work presents the power, complexity and celebration found within the rituals of African tribal life, and they continue to be honoured worldwide for their contributions to the understanding and celebration of cultural diversity.
Veiled During Ceremonial Rites, Eritrea 1986
With Chief Mokao, Niger 1980
With Surma Friends Kolaholi and Chinoi, Ethiopia 1986
Books & Awards
Among seventeen best-selling books, their defining body of work, “African Ceremonies,” is a a double volume, pan-African study of rituals and rites of passage from birth to death, covering 93 ceremonies from 26 countries. This book won the United Nations Award for Excellence for “vision and understanding of the role of cultural traditions in the pursuit of world peace.”
Beckwith and Fisher have been honoured twice with the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in race relations for “outstanding contributions to the understanding of cultural diversity and prejudice”. They are recipients of the African Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award and the WINGS WorldQuest Lifetime Achievement Award, the Explorer’s Club’s Lowell Thomas Award for those who have distinguished themselves in the field of exploration, and the Royal Geographical Society of London’s Cherry Kearton Medal for their “contribution to the photographic recording of African ethnography and ritual”. Most recently, the pair were named Honorary Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of their lifetimes’ work and outstanding support of the Society and geography.
Beckwith and Fisher's Work 1975-2000
Films & Exhibitions
The pair have made five films about traditional Africa, including Way of the Wodaabe (1986), The Painter and the Fighter (1990), two programs for the Millennium Series Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, and, most recently, they co-produced Maasai Eunoto (2024), which has been receiving much international acclaim.
Their numerous photographic exhibitions have received acclaim in museums and galleries across USA, Africa, South America, Australia, Europe, and Japan. Beckwith and Fisher have lectured at such venues as the Royal Geographic Society in London, The Explorers Club in New York City, the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. and many other cities across the USA.
Beckwith and Fisher's work has been honoured though a 40+ year long association with the National Geographic Society including ten feature articles in National Geographic Magazine, three as cover stories; three films produced for television; two sponsored Nat Geo Live U.S. lecture tours and eleven lectures at National Geographic headquarters; two exhibitions and the publication of a book.
Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher are not only truly remarkable photographers, but their dedication to preserving for all time the dazzling diversity of African Ceremonies is unparalleled. Their celebration of African cultures will forever serve as the most compelling and passionate portrayal of the splendor of human creativity from the very continent that gave rise to all humanity.”
Dr. Donald Johansen
Director/Founder, Institute of Human Origins