John Kenny

Ethiopia - Omo Valley

My first series of colour images from across Ethiopia's Lower Omo Valley, taken in late 2009, of 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 perhaps obvious why. The colours that adorn individuals from these groups are striking; when viewed away from the powerful, bleaching African sunlight they take on an almost luminous effect.

All of the groups photographed here will be profoundly affected if Ethiopia's Gibe III Dam is completed and water levels of the Omo Valley brought under control.