Returning the photographer's gaze - sometimes with a proud and knowing smile, an indignant look of resistance and mimicry, or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.
Young Tsemai woman with tattooed facial markings at the weekly market in Key Afer, a small multi-ethnic frontier town in the remote lower Omo Valley of southwestern Ethiopia. Shot near the end of a long hot dry season regularly exceeding 40°C in the shade.
The Tsemai are one of the least known ethnic groups in the valley, numbering around 5000 people concentrated in settlements along the west bank of Weito River.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved. expl#11
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Peoples of the Omo Valley
Tags: indigenous ethnic beauty tribe afrique africa african omovalley omo portrait tsemai tatooed face people facialscars ethiopie ethiopia bodymodification bodyart Turmi Documentary Portraiture Explore Tattoo DavidSchweitzer DocumentaryPhotography StreetPhotography HumanInterest VisualAnthropology PhotoJournalism DocumentaryPortrait StreetPortrait VanishingCultures gaze Street bestportraitsaoi elitegalleryaoi
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Returning the photographer's gaze - sometimes with a proud and knowing smile, an indignant look of resistance and mimicry, or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.
A proud, elegant Maasai herder of the warrior age-set pauses for a moment to vogue this pose on his return to a cattle camp near the crater rim in the Ngorongoro Highlands of northern Tanzania. Adorned with glass-beaded necklaces, medallion and wrist band; an amber bracelet; stretched earlobes with glass-beaded sleeves and copper pendants. High resolution Noritsu Koki QSS-31 digital film scan, shot with a compact semi-automatic point-and-shoot Pentax camera, circa 1997.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved and protected by international copyright laws. Any use of this work requires my prior written permission. expl#40
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Returning the gaze - sometimes with an indignant look of resistance or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.
Small Arbore settlement in the remote Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia, East Africa. Shot directly under the noonday sun near the end of a long dry season regularly exceeding 40°C in the shade. explore#20
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Flickr Gallery: The Power of Documentary Portraiture
Peoples of the Omo Valley
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Returning the photographer's gaze - sometimes with a proud and knowing smile, an indignant look of resistance and mimicry, or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.
Saitoti, a Maasai elder, travels each year from his home in a small semi-nomadic pastoral settlement nestled in the Kenyan foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro (near Amboseli National Park and the border with Tanzania, Rift Valley Province) to work as a security guard in Lamu, an island off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast. The money he earns goes towards the upkeep of his family and cattle back in the homeland.
Adorned with circular facial scars, a glass-beaded collar, and stretched earlobes with glass-beaded sleeves and copper pendants.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved
Street Portraiture | Social Documentary | BodyArt
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Returning the gaze - sometimes with a proud and knowing smile, an indignant look of resistance and mimicry, or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.
Hamar woman on market day in Turmi, a small multi-ethnic frontier town in the remote Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Adorned with a tradition cowrie-shell collar, seeded necklaces and iron marital torques. The upper torque with phallic protrusion is wrapped in leather and signifies first-wife status. The torques are worn for life.
The Hamar are semi-nomadic herders and farmers who live in small settlements or hamlets scattered across the hills, plains, wooded riverines and dry thorny bush terrain in the lower Omo River Valley, near Ethiopia's border with Kenya and South Sudan.
Street Portraiture | Social Documentary | Lonely Planet
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