Follow this link to view the first two we created! The first story is about Degie, a young woman in labor in rural Mota, Ethiopia , and the second story is about Fatuma, a camel milk producer near Jijiga, Ethiopia.
Dr. Hamlin’s many decades of work surrounding maternal health in the area of fistula repair and prevention has earned her a well deserved Nobel Peace Prize nomination this year so there were many reasons to celebrate her life.
She was joyous and curious during the whole event, and even came to an intimate dinner party that same night. She is an incredible inspiration to many!
Nicholas Kristof wrote an article about her, and Oprah made a generous donation to the hospital in her honor.
I am hoping to be able to devote more time to the organization she started. First up: a redesign of their website and assistance with a revamped communications plan.
And yes, relaying more stories regarding how Hamlin Fistula Hospital saves and improves the lives of rural Ethiopian women.
We LOVE the video that editor Kevin Max made!
I had the chance to bring some of Rose’s homemade soaps to Ethiopia with me. Here is a photo of Rose and also of a priestess holding a bar of Rose’s lovely soap:
Soon after we arrived, we met up with my transportation and translator team in Ethiopia and they surprised us by taking us to see a football match between Ethiopia and Nigeria projected on a big screen which was set up in a beautiful park. It was the perfect place for both groups to get to know each other in a spirited setting.
The next morning, we got up early, grabbed our gear, and set out to go to Sheno, Ethiopia, the childhood home of our guide, Dani. His family let us set up the printers in their home so we could make photos and give prints to his extended family and to villagers around the area. It did not take long to get the process up and running, and within a few minutes we cranked out our first print.
It was a beauty!
I also brought prints that I had made before I left from images captured a year before and gave them to the family. It was an honor to spend time in this village and to see how much our prints were appreciated.
Once our process was humming along, we then branched out and made prints in various locations around Addis Ababa and in smaller villages outside of the city, some as far away as Lalibela and Arba Minch.
One other commitment of the Prints For Prints project is to train local students on various aspects of photography, in one-on-one sessions. We were fortunate to be able to coordinate this training with DESTA for Africa and the Nike Foundation’s Girl Hub projects.
It was especially gratifying to watch local students in the workshop take over the printing, and make and donate prints to others that they met on the streets and in compounds.
We printed from any spot we could find, and even sometimes while on the go!
We also loved giving our cameras to the subjects and letting them photograph us. Such fun!
We made prints in places we never imagined, such as on top floors of high rise construction sites, and also in hospitals in remote areas of the Afar region.
I also brought a print for each market worker I had photographed a year ago. We laid the prints out on the ground, and people searched for those they saw in the prints. My Ethiopian friend Habtamu and I gave each worker who arrived a print of themselves and they were really happy to receive it.
Here are two of my finished portraits, created in two scenarios. The first image is Fatuma and her daughter Semed, right outside of their kitchen where they prepare food for a hospital in the Afar region. The second image shows Raya in his place of employment, a construction site in the Bole region of Ethiopia.
There is much to process about this first trip, and I look forward to making a few changes to the process so that we can have an even better experience during the next offering of this service.
Thank you to the community of photographers and other supporters who generously donated their prints, time and ideas to make this project fly!
Joni Kabana, Portland, Oregon, USA
I remember this day so well…
I asked the camel milk producers if they could sing a bit so I could record it, and I received a full blown concert and performance. Such joy, such camaraderie. I learn so much from them!
Each student had a different skill set level, but each and every one of them had an incredible eagerness to learn and their love for the craft was so very apparent. Passion abounds in Ethiopia for learning photography!
However, some students did not have access to a camera and had to borrow ours for the day. I would love to find cameras, lenses, photography books, and other supplies to donate to the new photography school that is being developed by the amazing Aida Muluneh through her DESTA For Africa organization.
Any donations can be sent or dropped off to me and I will ensure that they go directly to the school.
Many thanks for your consideration!
Prints For Prints participant Bill Purcell gives a quick lesson to a student in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia:
A student gives a print to a shoe shine woman and her baby:
Aida Muluneh and I, on the first day we met each other:
More importantly, we are happy that the beauty of the Ethiopia spirit is celebrated here.
Here are the members of the team with links to their websites:
L-R: Heather Binns, Bill Purcell, Constance Spurling, Joni Kabana, Steve Bloch
(Photo by Ben Opsahl)
Ten images from my “Market Workers” series will be shown at PushDot Studio. Join me for an opening reception this Friday, August 2 from 6-9pm as we raise a glass of cheer to those who might just be the hardest workers on earth.
All images were printed at PushDot Studio. A very special thank you goes to Laura Domela, who, with her painter’s hand and master photographer’s skill, made the images sing with her magical post processing work.
One hundred forty-four subjects were photographed for this series, and each printed image is mounted on black sintra then framed without glass so that there is nothing between viewer and subject.
It has been exceptionally difficult to select which images are printed, as I dearly love each and every one. In time, I hope to have all of them printed and floating about the world in celebration of the Ethiopian spirit.
Desta, 2012
This exhibit had 12,961 entries from 84 countries, and 201 pieces were chosen. I am very happy that the image they selected represents the beautiful people of Ethiopia. This image was taken in a small village called Sheno, about an hour away from Addis Ababa.
The opening reception is October 12, 2013 in San Diego, and the show will run until November 17, 2013.
