FACES OF ETHIOPIA. My interest in portrait photography started during travels in China and got serious in Tibet. I learnt a lot about sensibilities, effect and results. Not conversant with their languages...other than the odd line that would open doors...I developed a technique that I have used ever since...to encourage the subject to connect with the camera. I have taken photos of people surrepticiously or with consent. You can tell from your photos...portraits taken of someone who does not want to be photographed...they don't come out...not pleasing in the result. Then there are those that just look at you...and those that connect. I love Ethiopia...the people...the cultures...the amazing history...the music ...the dancing...the vibe. I am conscious of what I must represent as a mizungu...a white man...with a camera... read more

ETHIOPIA: Timket in Lalibela...Seeking Enlightenment. What is a mozaic of colour...a rugby scrum of thousands...a plethora of satin umbrellas...the most ornate crowns adorning heads one could possibly see...a pulsating rhythm of sandled feet...hours and hours of Geez...days of frantic passion...of faith...of faces...smiling or heavenward...and robes of white & red...of black & gold...of purples...of blues...of every colour imaginable...in a magic, exotic locale? Welcome to Timket in Lalibela...it is all of those things...and more. A three day festival to honour the Epiphany...the baptism of Christ... Ethiopian style. In Mali our adventures were all leading to the Festival in the Desert...from Bamako to Timbuktu...to "the most remote music festival in the World"...dancing all the way...rewarded by "Our Tuareg Wedding" in the Sahara...recommitting for ... read more

THIRSTY IN ETHIOPIA...THE BEERS. I've told you about our "Coffee Tour" of Ethiopia...in the North...in the South...and also in the Centre...served in small cups, black, strong, clean, one sugar...not muddy. "Did you perchance try the amber fluid...of Ethiopia..? you ask. As it turns out, Mike brews his own beer...in Toowoomba, Queensland...so one assumes he is partial to "a cool one...or two." And so it was in Ethiopia. Being a patriotic Aussie...prepared "to take one for the team"...well...I decided to join him. Before Ethiopia...in Mali...we'd be watching T.V. in our hotel in Bamako of the Queensland floods...horrified at the devastation in Mike & Ros' home town. Mike didn't talk about it much then. He said his house should be fine...it being on a hill. He was concerned for his community...as we all were. ... read more

ETHIOPIA...The Fountain of Youth. Travelling in exotic locations...I get thirsty. Thirsty for adventure...for raw experience of life...on paths less travelled...that captures my imagination...inspires my soul. But will I have enough years left in me to visit the many places on my "Wish List"..? You hear about crackpots extoling the quest for eternity...any attempt to beat the aging process...using scam tea remedies, special anti-wrinkling cream, herbal potions...even face lifts. But I...not being a crackpot...well...I try to be more scientific. Accordingly, now I am in Ethiopia heading for Enlightenment at the Timket Festival in Lalibela...I might as well take the opportunity to address my age limitations in the process..! I thus begin my search for "The Fountain of Youth"...and I reckon ...some of these Ethiopian Saints...might well help me..! ... read more

ETHIOPIA...Nech Sar & Arba Minch. 514 sq miles of savannah, dry bush & groundwater forest in SW Ethiopia...a haven for 104 species of mammals and over 189 species of birds...welcome to Nech Sar (Nechisar or White Grass) National Park. Accessed from Arba Minch...along one of the roughest tourist roads in Ethiopia...the isthmus between Lakes Abaya and Chamo...known as "the Bridge of God." Stunning scenery...but with a bloody history. In November 2004, 463 thatched huts of the Guji-Oromo people were burned down by Ethiopian park officials and police...forced relocation. But why? In 1965 after spending 3 months surveying wildlife areas in Ethiopia, a UNESCO team proposed a game reserve to the east of Lake Chamo for the protection of the Swayne's Hartebeest & other wildlife. In 1967 Nech Sar National Park was proposed but was not established ... read more