This set of photographs is delightfully weird.
“Rather than just photograph the costumes and the iconography like photojournalists, Rousset and Verona decided to stage some of the photos and create a mise en scène directly inspired by magical realism. Costumed characters aren’t always in parades or at ceremonies; they’re sitting at a drafting table, bent over work supplies. Two women perch on a desk near modern appliances, like televisions. Another worshiper sits on a naked mattress, and a plastic bottle beverage sits on the floor. “We decided to mix two languages: one very staged and those that are very snapshot,” Verona says. “We mixed a lot to create ambiguity for the reader, in knowing what’s real and what’s fiction.””