In late 2015 Guy Needham spent time with the Hamar tribe in Southern Ethiopia. Based in the Lower Valley of the Omo, he was there to photo-document contemporary tribal life. Every market day he would go to the nearest town of Turmi and meet Hamar from the surrounding villages and photograph them against a backdrop of colourful shop walls.

 

The resulting collection of portraits, The Hamar of Ethiopia, is a vibrant homage to their way of life. The images can be interpreted as cultural crossings, where the space between photographer and photographee is more than just physical. Written on the faces of those who posed is a mix of suspicion and acceptance, a personification of the deeper issue of tourism versus exploitation. The simplicity of each image is a nod to Western society’s fascination with ‘the other’, and an expression of the fragile balance between celebrating indigenous beauty and maintaining a respectable distance.