Joey Lawrence (photographer) - Ethiopian Photography

Ethiopian Photography

In the making of a gallery exhibition, Lawrence traveled to Ethiopia three times over the course of three years to photograph the Karo, Mursi, Hamer, Daasanach and Arbore tribes of the Omo Valley. On his second trip, Lawrence took the photographs back to Ethiopia and showed them to the tribes people in order to gain trust amongst the clan chiefs and continue the photographic series. One of his 2009 trips was filmed to make the documentary Faces of a Vanishing World. In discussion with The National Post, Lawrence said he used studio lighting and a modern style to shoot the photos, saying "they become overlooked when they are depicted in... black-and-white..., as noble savages, as unchanged people". The stylistic treatment is to render them too as part of the modern world. The images were published under the title The Cradle of Mankind, and were featured on the Time website.

As of February 2013, Joey is trying to raise $150,000 on Kickstarter so that he can create a full-length feature film about the people of the Omo Valley, starring the people of the Omo Valley.

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