Hamar Aesthetics Sq - a photo on Flickriver

Returning the photographer's gaze - sometimes with a proud and knowing smile, an indignant look of resistance and mimicry, or a long studied stare as the observer becomes the observed. The gaze is returned, the observer othered. Subject owns the gaze for a frozen moment.

A graceful gait, an elegant long-limbed stance, or this spontaneous pose under the photographer's gaze - all exude poise and dignity the amid the commotion and bustle of a weekly market in Ethiopia's lower Omo Valley. Omalle, a young married Hamar woman, vogued this pose against a painted wall at the marketplace in Turmi, a small multi-ethnic frontier town in the remote Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of southwestern Ethiopia. Shot directly under the midday sun near the end of a long dry season regularly exceeding 40°C in the shade.

Elegantly adorned with a traditional cowrie-shell collar, seeded necklaces, copper bracelets, glass-beaded goatskin clothing and iron marital torques. The upper torque with phallic protrusion is wrapped in leather, signifying first-wife status. The torques are worn for life. The hairstyle consists of long, tightly twisted strands rubbed in a mixture of fresh cow butterfat, ground red ochre and tree resin gathered from the lower Omo River Basin. The ubiquitous chewing stick favoured by peoples of the lower Omo Valley serves as a natural toothbrush and dental floss all in one.

© All rights reserved. expl#395

Street Portraiture | Social Documentary | BodyArt

Peoples of the Omo Valley

Taken on: February 23, 2009

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Camera: Canon PowerShot SD880 IS, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, 6mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SD880 IS
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	6mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 25.3 (Macintosh)
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