Malasso

Taken in North Western Kenya, 2009.

I came across this proud, formidable looking lady from the Pokot tribe at a Friday market on a mountain summit in northern Kenya. This weekly event was a potential flashpoint between two rival tribal groups, with the Pokot and neighboring Samburu were engaged in a constant battle over grazing rights.

At the market the two tribal groups avoided mixing and eyed each other cautiously: even as an outsider I could feel the palpable tension. This lady and the women with her were watched carefully by armed Pokot warriors as they walked amongst the market’s wooden stalls.

Later on in the day I saw this lady again, and was surprised to see that when she left the market she carried no purchases with her. As she disappeared and began a thousand meter decent down a steep ravine to the planes below it aptly demonstrated the difficulties of daily life out here in northern Kenya; with often significant hardships involved in gathering even the most basic of necessities in such arid landscapes.

This NFT contains a high resolution TIF file in the unlockable content, available only to the owner.

These pictures are the result of hundreds of hours spent walking, hitching, and driving across Sub-Saharan Africa. They are a testimony to the vibrant cultures that still exist within some of the most isolated lands on earth.

I had nothing but sunshine and a hut available as a great ‘open studio': so I used these parameters and started experimenting. The technique is simply the illumination of natural sunlight reaching into the darkness of huts and lighting up these remarkable people.

Each NFT in this collection contains a high resolution TIF file in the unlockable content, available only to the owner.