Ethiopia - Omo Valley

Portraits / January 2009

My first serious experiment with colour portraiture in Ethiopia's Lower Omo Valley, taken in late 2009. As always, my focus were striking individuals from the Hamer, Nyangatom, Karo, Mursi and Banna communities. The Lower Omo Valley certainly receives the most attention from outsiders in this triangle of human diversity where Kenya, Sudan, and Ethiopia meeet, and it is obvious why: the colours that adorn individuals from these groups are striking. And when viewed away from the powerful, bleaching African sunlight, they take on an almost luminous effect.

Click on any picture to enlarge