The Omo Series Pt. I

Greetings fellow human,

First and foremost, a blessed New Year to you and your loved ones (including your pets). 

This past Sunday, I spent the day spoiling myself with the opportunity of doing The Omo People shoot.

Well, initially I spent most of my morning and afternoon snuggled in what I call 'a blessing of a bloody bed', contemplating whether or not I should go through with the shoot. So I decided, with full knowledge of the gloomy, sucky weather in Cape Town, that will I done do it ! 

Tempted by the calamine, gouache and the paint brushes that laid before my very eyes - coincidence? I think not (which, BTW, were the ingredients to create this perfect face) I proceeded. Within 15 minutes, my "make-up" was complete. Disappointed by the fact that Dain, my boyfriend, stood me up, I continued, because I'm kak independent - nxa ! Nonetheless, you'll see Dain in Pt. II.

The Omo People, who are they? You ask. They are, technically, people of the Surma and Mursi tribes whom live in/along the L'Omo Valley (Omo River) on the borders of  Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. So you catch the drift of why Hans Silvester calls them The Omo peeps right? Right. Just to some it all up; the Surma people are generally located in Ethiopia and South Sudan. The Surmas and the Mursis are quite similar in culture. The Surmas generally have a  larger population, according to stats, than the Mursis. 

The African Traditional religious dominated tribe is quite intriguing. Just like the Mursi tribe, 'at the point of puberty most women have their bottom teeth removed in order to get their lower lip pierced. Once the lip is pierced, it’s then stretched and a lip plate is then placed in the hole of the piercing.  Having a lip plate is a sign of beauty and the bigger the plate, the more cattle the woman is worth. This is important when the women are ready to get married.' - Wikipedia. 

Hans Silvester received the opportunity to capture the essence of these beautiful people, not only mentally, but physically. His images have inspired me to (quite frankly) copy the 'look' of the the colourful Surma people (which is what I have tried to depict in this post) because they look so jaas ! 

Click here to see the image that inspired the very first Omo series. Let me know what you think.

Sharp.