Elie Gardner, a good friend of mine and fellow photographer, continues to post photographs from her journey through Africa on her blog. If you follow the progression, notice how the photographs read like a written journal. They carry the viewer through varying first-person perspectives featuring a blend of polished photographs and narrative self-portraits. Moreover, the smart decision to write a journal elevates the sophistication of the collection. Time is well spent following her posts.
“Entering Engaruka I pay an entrance fee of 5000 shillings (about $4). It’s mzungu (White) price, for which I receive a receipt. Some leave the bus. Others board. We ride to the last stop. I sit inside the pages of National Geographic magazine. Covered Muslims, Maasai warriors and other indigenous faces with dark eyes stare at me. Huts with thatched roofs and mud and stick walls blanket the landscape. I remind myself to inhale and exhale. I don’t think I’ve ever been this far from home.
“Their necks are disguised with large loops of white beads, like halos that have fallen from above their heads. They sing, call and response. They bob, bounce and laugh. The earrings hanging from their sagging lobes and cartilage swing and catch the light of the midday sun. Their necklaces bounce up and down, up and down.
Down. The halo has been dropped over my head, and I’m holding two hands. I’m in the middle and try to mimic their routine. I think first of my body movement, then I focus on trying to make my necklace flap like theirs. I lose myself in the movements. After a few songs, they guide me to the shade of a nearby tree. I sit on the middle of a cowhide. Two Maasai woman wiggle onto the hide with me, sandwiching me. Thigh to thigh to thigh. They drape a kanga over my legs and pour beads onto my lap.”
See more at her blog OTCSpeakeasy
Post a Comment