One of the powers of photography is to teach us about the world and the places we may never see ourselves. Photographer Michele Zousmer traveled to Omo Valley in the southwest of Ethiopia. She brought back some striking photos, capturing daily lives of four tribes living in this area: Arbore, Konso, Hamer and Banna.
Michele captured the moments from their lives including the “everyday stuff” like going to a market, to one of the tribe’s rituals. Along with the images, there are the stories of the people in them, which give the whole project a new, more personal dimension.
Traveling with Epic Photo Tours, Michele Zousmer was able to visit these tribes and capture their lives on camera. The entire series was taken over the course of 24 hours. As Herb Leventon of the Epic Photo Tours tells DIYP, over this time they managed to witness the ebb and flow of life:
“Women getting water, making fire to cook on and the men guarding herds of cattle which is their wealth. In this photo series taken over the course of 24 hours we were able to witness a joyous celebration, a rite of passing and share some smiles as well as capture people deep in contemplation.”
“I cared for the chicken and now I have many eggs to sell in the market. Today is Key Afer market day and people wake up early to get here. My eggs are big, white and strong and I hope that I can sell them all. They are sitting in my gourd that I wear as a hat. The sun is very hot here and sometimes I feel that my brains are on fire. Today will be a good day, I feel it in my hands. I am a Benna.”
The series captures these people in mostly unguarded moments, which is one of the ways to honor them. Herb tells us an interesting anecdote related to showing the photos to his subjects:
“When I returned a year later I presented them with their pictures, some people were amused others said that they had no use for them, but the paper the picture was printed on would help start a good cooking fire.”
Here are the rest of the photos, along with the stories translated by Tzbt SumSum:
“I wake up when it is still dark and take my goats to the fields. I drink milk from my plastic bottle that has heavy sorghum in it. Maybe my friends come to joke with me and we sit and talk. Maybe I have thorns to pick out of my feet or chase the stupid goats and I look to see that they are growing strong. The gun is always with me, hyenas and wild dogs are my enemies. Every day I do this, the goats come home with me at darkness and stay in the pen near my hut.”
“I am standing in the market waiting for my friends, maybe they will come, maybe not. We will talk about the boys and nothing more.”
“I have just walked many steps to the Key Afer market to see my family who lives in a different village. I fixed my hair nice and put on a good shirt. The thing I am holding is a head rest so when I lay down my hair stays nice and also a stool. Everywhere I walk, many hours, many days always with my gun and stool.“
“I am a young man from a far village. I have come to the market to buy honey, talk to friends and see how people are. All of the farenji’s like my stool. I carved it and is my mine and I can sell it to you if you want. The whistle is for the night. I don’t want the wild hyenas near my family, it scares them away. The girls like what I am wearing on my neck. I am from Hamer tribe.”
“We are Kosno. Our house has no light, always we are in the dark. When it rains, so much mud. Our shoes are from the Chinese, plastic and junky. When the people with camera’s come we look at them to see what they are like. Sometimes they give us t-shirts. But my mother always takes them and gives to the younger children. It is fun to run after them at scream at them, they laugh or get scared. We never get scared.”
“Hamer bull whipping today. The woman wail; “hit me”; “hit me more”, “hit me again”. Tonight we will have a big party, lots of goat on the fire, lots of evangedi dancing and drinking. The women will have scars on their backs; the men who whipped will be responsible for these ladies when they are old. I get the scar- you get the responsibilty of caring for me. “
“You will whip me hard and care for me greatly when I am old. Hamer people are faithful and follow the leaders.”
“It is a great day in one of the Konso villages. Our football team won. We are so happy and we will parade through all of the villagers. we will jump, sing, scream, beat the ground, call to the sky. Everyone will know the score. Many whistles blowing, many happy men dancing in the streets.”
“I am young and have no babies and this is my sister’s baby. I love to take care of her. She is always looking at everything. You are taking a picture of her from my back and also always looking at everything.I like her bracelet, I like your bracelet.”
“The sun is burning everyone and I need to sit under the tree and rest. You come with many cars and many cameras. I know your guide, he is always here and smiles with us. He said you have been here many times before and gave us bags of food. Where are the bags now, in the car? You can take my picture and then give me some money.”
“The cars of tourists come and we walk away. We have to talk about the market and the boys we will meet. You have a big smile and a nice face and have an Ethiopian man with you that looks very nice. Is he your husband? Ok. Maybe he can be our husband. – Lots of laughter with the Arbore tribe.”
You may remember Epic Photo Tours from an article we published earlier. They donated the solar lights to the people living in the dark. So other than organizing interesting photo tours, they also try to make a change for the people, which is what I really appreciate. You can find them on their website, Facebook page and follow them on Instagram. You can also find Herb Leventon on Facebook.
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