This is the definitive book on the artistic and scientific work of Pierre Fatumbi Verger's, and on his life journey. Verger's life is extraordinary, and his work (as a photographer around the world and insider ethnographer, but also as a botanist and historian) is exceptional. His empathy and unique methodology have opened up new avenues for research and understanding. Yet his work is still little known outside Brazil, particularly in the English-speaking world. This book is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil, mainly in the milieu of Candomblé (a religion of African origin), as well as on long-term biographical research, mainly in France and Brazil. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the issued raised by Verger’s method and the implications of his life experience and work for anthropology. This book tells a story: it has a narrative thread; but it also contains precise ethnographic analyses, historical descriptions and it’s filled with in-depth anthropological insights. It is at once an anthropological essay, a transcultural portrait, an intellectual/critical biography, and a comprehensive reflection on the meaning and scope of Verger’s life and work.