These men are the descendants of the knights and soldiers of King Sundiata Keita, who had introduced the twelfth and thirteenth century in West Africa an egalitarian society. They know no borders and live in Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Ivory Coast. They form a brotherhood of masters of therapeutic knowledge, hunting and magic. via google translate

What is beautiful and very disturbing in these images brought back from Africa and Bordas travels since 1988 is that it puts us in touch with a world that is completely inaccessible and yet, is real. The army raised from the hunters of Mali comes from far away: the men covered with amulets, talismans, and armed with weapons also come from another time, were not found for seven centuries. Bordas and followed for seven years from 2001.

These men are the heirs of the elite corps of the empire of Mali. They wear the same outfits, and obey the same laws as the horsemen and soldiers of King Sundiata Keita (1190-1255) whose empire stretched from the Sahara to the rain forest from the Atlantic to the loop of Niger.

These hunters out of the shadows after seven centuries, constitute a sort of underground river that irrigates and transnational values ​​by much of Africa today. The images of Philippe Bordas us into this mysterious world. These men are inhabited by a palpable force transmitted to us by the photographer. It remains absolutely fascinated by the faces that we observe in the darkness of the showroom and we talk quietly. via madame lefigaro