The green plush mountains of Jamaica.

The green plush mountains of Jamaica. — In the Blue Mountains, in a forest so green it almost reflects blue, Rastafari have cultivated an abundance—fruit, coffee, bananas, and sugar cane—with which they sustain their vibrant community.

A Jamaican woman wearing a yellow, red, and green scarf looks toward the camera as she stands in the jungles of Jamaica.

A Jamaican woman wearing a yellow, red, and green scarf looks toward the camera as she stands in the jungles of Jamaica.

A small unripened green and red plant in the Blue Mountains.

A small unripened green and red plant in the Blue Mountains.

A Jamaican woman faces away from the camera as she grazes a large plant in jungles of Jamaica.

A Jamaican woman faces away from the camera as she grazes a large plant in jungles of Jamaica.

A Jamaican woman and a young buy stand next to each other amidst the jungles of Jamaica.

A Jamaican woman and a young buy stand next to each other amidst the jungles of Jamaica.

An older Jamaican man with long locs looks toward the camera in the Blue Mountains.

An older Jamaican man with long locs looks toward the camera in the Blue Mountains.

The bright greenery of the mountains.

The bright greenery of the mountains.

A Jamaican man wearing a white and red scarf and t-shirt stands in front of a fruit tree in the jungles of Jamaica.

A Jamaican man wearing a white and red scarf and t-shirt stands in front of a fruit tree in the jungles of Jamaica. — Central to Rastafari is reggae, a genre of music in which messages of peace, love, and social change are set to a beat. Each year, the community in the Blue Mountains hosts a carnival, where celebration revolves around music and food.

A Jamaican man with his hair wrapped into a scarf and a pin of the Jamaican flag on his shirt looks straight into the camera. The Blue Mountains are in the background.

A Jamaican man with his hair wrapped into a scarf and a pin of the Jamaican flag on his shirt looks straight into the camera. The Blue Mountains are in the background.

The plush green mountains in Jamaica meet the cloudy sky above.

The plush green mountains in Jamaica meet the cloudy sky above.

A Jamaican man with his hair wrapped in a red, green, and yellow scarf sits on top of a bench with the large Blue mountains and a cloudy sky in the background.

A Jamaican man with his hair wrapped in a red, green, and yellow scarf sits on top of a bench with the large Blue mountains and a cloudy sky in the background.

The side of a house painted in Jamaican flag colors sits along a dirt path with the Blue Mountains in the background.

The side of a house painted in Jamaican flag colors sits along a dirt path with the Blue Mountains in the background.

A Jamaican woman with her hair tied into a scarf sits on a tree stump in the middle of the Blue Mountains.

A Jamaican woman with her hair tied into a scarf sits on a tree stump in the middle of the Blue Mountains. — Rastafari emphasizes a natural life, including eating what the land provides and wearing one’s hair in dreads.

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Photography

Rhythm and Reggae in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains

06.19.2023

Photographs by Philip-Daniel Ducasse

In the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, a Rastafari community practices living in concert with the world around them. Photographer Philip-Daniel Ducasse travelled to Jamaica to capture the magic of the land.

This article first appeared in Atmos Volume 08: Rhythm with the headline “Moving Mountains.”

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Nature is an elaborate orchestra of interconnectedness, in which timing is everything.

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