Everyone looking at the camera in these photos got one birr (8 cent); that was how it worked in Ethiopia. At least in the countryside, in 2005. And the banknote had to be crisp. Pay any more and the system was upset. At the time I thought I should go with this, because that was how it was, but really that was a cop-out by me. It suited my notion of taking portraits with co-operation (no zoom-lens snaps of unsuspecting locals) yet since then I've followed the debate (which I won't attempt to summarise) and, in short, if away somewhere wouldn't ever again pay, and feel queasy at the idea of shooting people unaware, so don't, unless they're only outlines.
I kidded myself that these subjects were dignified. As though I was a Victorian explorer and this was an important anthropological record. In Nepal, in the 90's, people would ask to be photographed, then write their address and plead with you to send them a copy. For sure these Ethiopians got something tangible, but photography wasn't supposed to be reduced to that. It got so that people were presenting themselves, and it was awkward to say ehm, actually, no. Depending on the tribe, women and girls tended not to wear clothes above the waist except a sling for babies, which was tricky for a middle-aged Western male who didn't want to cause offence. A Christian group had been in the area giving medical help, but first giving women t-shirts as a condition. I didn't want to align myself with that imputation of bodily shame, but was that justification for agreeing to photograph them? Mostly I did so, but amn't passing them on. So, it's with very mixed feelings that I post these. I don't see harm, and maybe there's something to be taken from them.
Early photos were in Addis Ababa, then in central Ethiopia, then later ones down south visiting the Karo, Hamar and Mursi tribes.
About to leave the Omo Valley, I asked a guide what the money I'd given went on; maybe food, clothes, fuel? No, they were self-sufficient or bartered; the money was spent when they crossed the border to the Sudan and bought bullets, used in goat and cattle raids. Three people had died in one the previous month.
Everyone looking at the camera in these photos got one birr (8 cent); that was how it worked in Ethiopia. At least in the countryside, in 2005. And the banknote had to be crisp. Pay any more and the system was upset. At the time I thought I should go with this, because that was how it was, but really that was a cop-out by me. It suited my notion of taking portraits with co-operation (no zoom-lens …
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