Wearing make-up to feel more confident and attractive is common practice for Western women. And although they live in a world far removed from urban life, it's the same for women of the Karo tribe in Ethiopia. Using white chalk and red ochre, the women create intricate circle, spiral and cross-hatched designs in order to look more beautiful and stand out of the crowd. Omo Valley, Ethiopia, 2017
The Omo River is an important river of southern Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Kenya.The lower valley of the Omo is currently believed by some to have been a crossroads for thousands of years as various cultures and ethnic groups migrated around the region. To this day, the people of the Lower Valley of the Omo, including the Mursi, Suri, Nyangatom, Dizi and Me'en, are studied for their diversity. Jules Borelli was the first European explorer to thoroughly explore the upper and middle reaches of the Omo in the 1880s. Italian explorer Vittorio Bottego reached the Omo river on 29 June 1896 during his second African expedition (1895–97), dying during this expedition on 17 March 1897. Herbert Henry Austin and his men reached the Omo delta on 12 September 1898, and found that an Ethiopian expedition, led by Ras Wolda Giyorgis, had previously planted Ethiopian flags on the northern shore of Lake Turkana on 7 April, as well as having plundered the locals and reduced them to poverty. The Omo Valley, southern Ethiopia, 2013.
A young Surma man using plants found in the countryside as decoration. Southern Ethiopia, 2017
