The Impossible Task, from “The Mole and the Sun” © Pieter Henket.

The Twins, from “The Two Nkééngé Sisters” © Pieter Henket.

Malian writer Amadou Hampâté Bâ once observed, “When an old person dies, it is as if a library of knowledge burns.” In this one statement, he perfectly captured the inherent vulnerability of oral history and literature.

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Recognizing this, Eva Vonk – an executive producer at Tales of Us – approached Dutch photographer Pieter Henket to collaborate in the creation of a photography book that would share the childhood stories collected and told by the people living in Mbomo, a small town situated in the Republic of Congo.

With Congo Tales: Told by the People of Mbomo, Henket has created a library of iconic tales, with the photos starring the storytellers themselves. “Gathering them was a challenge, to say the least,” he explains. “Eva visited the forest seven times over the course of three years and met with many people that were able to help.”

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“She arranged with a local couple to start a radio station where people could come and tell their families stories. She arranged for people to sit around fires and share their stories there. And she asked a man to go around the villages on his motorcycle to collect stories. It became a huge passion project to collect this piece of undocumented oral history.”

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Read the Full Story at Huck Online

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Tough Love, from “The Woman Who Traded Her Baby for Honey” © Pieter Henket.

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