PERPLEXED
Ethiopia 2013
The Abore tribe was our first chance to shoot the Omo Valley people. We’d been told by our photographer/leader to choose a member of the tribe and take them to a background suitable for posing. I have told you that I did not want to choose anyone. I didn’t want to pose anyone. I wanted to wander about and catch shots of the Abore as they went about their chores.
But there they were, the Abore women standing in a row looking at us with a rather challenging attitude. The young woman above caught my eye because she seemed to be already posed. She’d done the hard part for me! Her frown caused me to hesitate, but when I indicated she would be my model, she gave no sign that she was displeased.
It took quite a few shots to get this one. The light background, her dark clothing, cars parked nearby and people walking to and from them meant that each time I looked at my LCD screen, I was dissatisfied. Still the girl was unperturbed. She seemed happy to stand with her arm on that tree until I got it right.
I took her to other backgrounds. She posed willingly but she never lost that frown. I expected her to tell me to leave her alone, but she never did. I realized that she was happy to help me get my photo. All I had to do was indicate what I wanted her to do. Sometimes she’d help me by raising her arms above her head maybe remembering a pose she’d done for another photographer. I began to think of her as a friend.
WOMEN OF THE ABORE TRIBE
This is my usual shot…a candid shot…well as candid as you can get when you are a stranger in a remote village. I like the expression on the mother’s face. She’s friendly and curious. Her baby’s beautiful face is turned to the light. The line women on the left of the photo form a ‘fence’ of sorts and add a feeling of strength. And you see the village huts in the background with (luckily) a boy wandering past lost in a world of his own. The photo tells a story about the Abore.