Totem Pole Lined Lanterns Yamoussoukro Dusk

Amber sodium-vapor light washes over a towering carved totem pole standing at the center of a shrine in Yamoussoukro. The pole, rich with deep reddish-brown wood grain and intricate relief carvings, rises vertically between rows of glowing lanterns that line the shrine walls. Low-hanging clouds hang heavy and grey in the cool season sky, diffusing the city lights beginning to glow in the background. The symmetrical arrangement of the lanterns creates a rhythmic pattern of warm orange spheres against the darkening blue-grey atmosphere. Shadows stretch long across the stone pavement, and at the edge is the sharp reflection of a single lantern's flame on the polished surface of a lower wooden carving.