In south western Ethiopia, where the Omo River snakes through the lush, green forests, disappearing tribes live in their timeless grass huts.
The Surma people, made up of the Suri tribe and the Mursi tribe, are known for their impressive lip discs, a sign of beauty and status for the women.
But they are seeing their way of life slowly being wiped out by extreme drought, building of dams and the establishment of national parks which have all threatened their livelihood.
Hoping to capture the beauty of this traditional tribe before it is wiped out, photographer Louisa Seton travelled to the African country to find and record on film the lives of these extraordinary people.
Seton, who was born in Nairobi, Kenya, but is based in Sydney, Australia, travelled to the villages of the Surma people in 2015, where she stayed and photographed them. She also shot pictures of members of the Hamer tribe.
She told CNN: 'A lot of people photograph Africa in such a negative light, with wars and famine and struggle. But I wanted to show the beauty of these incredible, strong and very proud people - the way they have an affinity with the land and the seasons.'
Children of the Suri Tribe. Seton found these kids resting on the tree trunk that was in the middle of a field of corn and sorghum. The tribe brew sorghum beer, quite a lethal potion that they consume in vast quantities. Photographing the tribes after lunch was near impossible because of this reason
Suri tribeswomen, like the one above, are famous for inserting clay plates in to the lower lip and often decorate themselves with the local flowers and clay patterns
Depending on their social status and size of their herd the men can have up to three wives. The first wife receives the privilege of wearing a large metal necklace with a long thorn on the end as seen on the top necklace this Hamer woman is wearing, she is clearly the first wife. The second and third wives wear simple round metal necklaces. When you see a Hamer woman you can immediately identify her status by her jewellery
One of the most famous traditions of the Surma (collective term for Mursi and Suri tribes) are the clay lip plates inserted into their lower lip. This practise happens when women reach marriageable age. The two lower teeth are knocked out (usually by a rock) and a slit made in their lower lip in which a small wooden plug is inserted. This plug is replaced by a larger one until the lip is stretched enough to hold a clay or wooden plate
It took three days of driving from Addis Ababa to Kibbish in order to photograph this Suri tribe boy who resides in the village of Naregeer in the Upper Omo valley, a very remote area of Ethiopia close to the border of South Sudan. This image was the first shot of the day at about 6:30am. The boy was balancing on the tree trunk in a field of Sorghum
Seton said it was slightly intimidating negotiating to photograph this man. Historically the tribes in this remote region of Ethiopia have engaged in inter-tribal feuds for years
These three men were photographed in a village in Margo National Park, within the Mursi territory. They carry weapons to protect their cattle against raiding. The different tribes are known to kill each other over cattle, grazing land and water hole disputes
This Hamer girl is not yet married and you can see this by the necklace she is wearing. There is no metal round her neck. She is wearing a traditional goat skin skirt with intricate bright bead work
Hoping to capture the beauty of this traditional tribe before it disappears, photographer Louisa Seton travelled to the African country to track down these extraordinary people
Of all the tribes in the Omo the Hamer are the largest and the most fashionable. They wear goatskin skirts decorated with cowries and bright bead work, copper bracelets and rings. They are pastoralists and agriculturalists. The women work in the fields tending to crops of sorghum, beans and maize while looking after their children
Traditionally the Suri women take care of the household and child rearing and tend to fields of sorghum, maize, beans, tobacco. The women's pot was used to carry sorghum beer a much loved beverage amongst both male and females
The landscape in Upper Omo valley is dense with lush, green bush. This was taken high up and very close to Sudanese border
No comments:
Post a Comment