Monday, May 18, 2009

photography of hans silvester

Photographs by Hans Silvester, taken in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia

The people of the Surma and Mursi tribes are body painters: they paint their bodies with pigments made from the earth as an immemorial and quotidian practice – mothers paint babies, children and adults paint themselves and each other in a tradition that seems unchanged for thousands of years. Their paintings range from abstract designs of circles, lines, dots and swirls, sometimes focused on specific body parts, to all-over patterns of flowers, zig-zags and fingerprints that form a dazzling array on the entire body. White, yellow, orange and ochre; the natural pigments that they use are derived from the soil and rocks of their surroundings. The tribes’ daily paintings are an essential expression of their lives – more elemental to them than music or dance. Fascinated by the Surma and Mursi tribes’ painting practices and astounded by the beauty of their ephemeral art, Silvester captures the diverse and extraordinary effects that they achieve through their ancient tradition. (text found here.)












HERE IS A SLIDE SHOW OF MORE THAN FIFTY OF SILVESTER'S IMAGES

Tribus de L'OMO / Hans Silvester Tribus de L'OMO / Hans Silvester Jose Gil Aux confins de l’Ethiopie ... le fleuve de l’Omo ... Ils ont le génie de la peinture, et leur corps de deux mètres de haut est une immense toile.

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