I first learned about the Omo Valley through Omo Child, a non-profit started here in San Diego, through my friend Janet Hanpeter who helped the founder, John Rowe, in expanding his fund raising and awareness efforts. Omo Child’s mission “is to provide a safe, nurturing home and quality education for rescued Mingi children. Mingi is the ritualistic killing of infants and children believed to be cursed by tribes living in the remote Omo Valley region of Southwest Ethiopia.” Shortly thereafter I got to meet Lale Labuko, co-founder and the heart and soul of Omo Child. Lale was born into the Kara tribe in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley and was one of the first of his tribe to receive a formal education. He learned that he lost two sisters to the Mingi practice and became an activist to help end the practice. Lale was named National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2013. To read more about Omo Child and Lale please visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/lale-labuko/ and NBC’s coverage of Lale at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/explorers/bios/lale-labuko/.
In 2015 John Rowe released “Omo Child: The River and the Bush”, shot in Ethiopia with the tribes and at Omo Child’s children’s home in Jinka, which won acclaim in film festivals all over the world including awards for best documentary, audience choice awards and other recognition. Check it out at: http://omochildmovie.com/
In November 2015 I joined Epic Photo Tours with Herb Leventon, Jeremy Woodhouse and Holly Wilmeth to visit the Omo Valley. Along the river we visited the home of three tribes: the Hammer, the Kara and the Mursi. Each is distinctive in some fashion.
The Hammer people wear colorful bracelets and beads their hair and around their waists and arms. They practice body modification by cutting themselves and packing the wound with ash and charcoal. Some of the women wear circular wedge necklaces indicating that they are married. Men paint themselves with white chalk to prepare for a ceremony. The Mursi are probably one of the last groups in Africa among whom it is still the norm for women to wear large pottery or wooden discs, or ‘plates,’ in their lower lips. The Kara tribe decorate their faces and bodies with multi-colored chalk and paint patterns.
The Lower Omo River is home to eight different tribes, population about 200,000, who have been fully self-sufficient living along the Omo River in Southern Ethiopia for centuries. They have developed a complex system of agriculture depending on the annual floods of the river to ensure their food security. The annual flooding feeds the biodiversity of the region as rainfall is low and erratic. Their traditional way of life is now seriously threatened by the construction of a giant dam and an associated hydro-power plant (Gibe III) on the upper Omo river which is forcing them off their land.
In 2011 the government began to lease out vast blocks of fertile land in the Lower Omo region to Malaysian, Italian, Indian and Korean companies to plant biofuels and cash crops such as oil palm, jatropha, cotton and maize. The people have not given their free, prior and informed consent for the dam or the plantations now being built. The government has begun to forcibly evict the Mursi and two other tribes. When the dam is complete, the environmental changes will cause the Omo tribes to lose their livelihood and become dependent on international aid, with the loss of their cultural identity inevitable.
Hammer children
Hammer girls in local market
Hammer girl
Hammer men at sunset
Hammer woman
Hammer men
Hammer girls
Kara men at Omo River
Kara mother and child
Kara mother and child
Kara boys applying traditional face decorations
Kara boys
Kara boy
Kara couple at the Omo River
Kara man
Kara woman walking through the village of Korcho
Kara woman at the Omo River
Kara kids in school
Mursi woman
Mursi girl
Mursi woman with lip plate removed
Mursi woman
Mursi woman displaying lip plate
mursi girls
Mursi woman in village
26 Comments
Love the Omo. So happy you have the same love and as I do. Blog and photos are really great!!!
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful and so very interesting. You are a talent.
Oh my gosh, Ivy Gordon! Your photography is stunning!!!
What a gift you have. Thanks for sharing it with the world!
Brett
Lovely photographs, and thank you for the narrative!
Gorgeous work, Ivy, thank you
Ivy,
I deeply admire how hard you have worked to develop your talent. Your photos are literally breathtaking. You have the rarest ability to capture the inner light and spirit of strangers who are strangers no more I feel like I have been to the valley and have seen what you have seen. That is the pinnacle of true art.
Thank you. Will
Thank you Will. It doesn’t feel like work when passion is the fuel. I think I learned that from you 🙂
Beautiful photography and very interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
Great blog post Ivy. Another fascinating part of the world. These photos are outstanding. In addition to the technical excellence, there is also a lot of emotion. Well done! I also love your new web site.
Ivy, well done! Your photos are works of art and your blog is fascinating. What a great beginning and I look forward to your future posts. Congratulations!
Thank you Sally. Can’t wait to see your images from your trip there a couple of weeks ago!
A strong and sad story. Breathtaking photos, Ivy. The whole presentation is really, really impressive and moving. Congratulations!
Ivy, these photos brilliantly capture a rich culture and way of being. Thank you for making that available to us!
Amazing….Amazing people, Amazing story, Amazing history, Amazing photographs, Amazing photographer. Just amazing. . .
Spectacular photos, Ivy! Such an incredible isolated area of Ethiopia. We are returning to Africa next year, but will be in the South only. You are making me giddy with excitement already! Thank you!
Thank you Ivy for sharing these stunning photos with us. The way you are able to capture the unique beauty of the people is simply amazing!
Great pictures Ivy – they’re certainly are very attractive people. You sure do get around……….
Thanks for sharing this story and your wonderful collection of images.
Beautiful works of art.
You fully experienced the experience of being in the Omo Valley and your blog and images are full of life and are captivating. Shine bright!
Thanks Herb! Am very excited to go back with you and continue to meet and learn about these people and this amazing place 🙂
Ivy, your photography is powerful and moving!
This is very impressive work. Even though I have seen many of these images before, they are excellent in this format. Congratulations!
Ivy. I have just come upon this. Wonderful images and storyline! Your photos strongly reflect the emotion of the moment, people and the Omo itself.
Thank you Trevor. Appreciate this comment very much coming from you!