Zangbéto: Guardian of the Night
“Night is not a lack of light. It is a territory.”
Zangbéto · 2024- SeriesII. Zangbéto: Guardian of the Night
- Years2024
- PlacePorto-Novo, Benin
- Body of work20 works, Zangbéto I to Zangbéto XX
- EditionEdition of 5 + 2 artist's proofs per size
- TechniqueFine Art pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper, signed, numbered, with certificate of authenticity
- SizesPortrait: 50 × 75, 70 × 105, 80 × 120 cm. Landscape: 75 × 50, 105 × 70, 120 × 80 cm
- AvailabilityOn request
Zangbéto is a series about keeping watch. It was born from those hours when the city empties without falling silent, when shadows grow heavier, when one hears differently.
The Zangbéto is not a folkloric figure. It is a protective divinity, a guardian of the night: in Goun, Zan gbé to means “the one who watches over the night”. I photographed it in Porto-Novo, in the presence of the Zangan, guardians and keepers of this tradition.
It took me several years to be ready for this work. Not technically. Spiritually. In the Vodun tradition, not everything can be photographed. Not everything gives itself to be seen.
The series has twenty works, Zangbéto I to Zangbéto XX. I move between colour and black and white according to what each apparition demands: colour vibrates with the ritual matter, black and white deepens silence and mystery. Here darkness is not dramatic: it is a material.
Nɔ̀ nɔ́ tò hɛn, ɖo xwéxwé ɖo kù nɔ.Those who keep watch in the night carry the wisdom of those who sleep. Goun proverb.
The guardian of thresholds
Among the Goun of Porto-Novo, the Zangbéto keeps watch, purifies and restores the invisible order. It is also called tokpà tò, the one who guards the thresholds. It comes out at night, accompanied by the Zangan, guardians and keepers of this tradition. In this chapter, presence shows itself through attention: it keeps watch, it crosses the night without fully revealing itself.
Photographing without taking
In the Vodun tradition, some eyes must be lowered, some presences must be honoured in silence. This project did not come from a wish to show, but from a wish to pass through, to feel what an image can capture without stealing. It was born from my double belonging: rooted in Beninese traditions, and aware of my contemporary visual language.
A silent communion
In some images, the Zangan, guardians of the tradition, stand back. They are never the subject: they accompany the divinity and guard the threshold. What matters is the silent relationship between those who keep watch and the sacred presence, suggested by a blur, a light, a tilt. This communion is never shown head-on.
“Zangbéto is not a project to look at. It is to be listened to and felt. It is crossed the way one enters an inhabited silence.”
Nauld Adjahuime
20 works shown
Click on a work to see it full size and read its description. Every work is available on request.
Exhibitions and publications
- Oct. 2026Zangbéto IV, V and VI: Ellipse Prize 5th anniversary exhibition, 62 rue Charlot, Paris
- Oct. 2026AKAA, Also Known As Africa, Paris
- 2026Chapter II of the book Présences
Nature Divinité
Acquire a work from the series
Each work is a signed and numbered limited-edition Fine Art print. Sizes, availability and prices on request.