Hamar Woman: Feistier than she Looks
Ethiopia 2013
We’d get to the village and wait for the signal that our leader had negotiated a deal with the village chief. The deal involved handing over money to the chief and in return we would be allowed free rein to photograph his people without paying for each click of the shutter. In theory, it’s a good idea. But after thirty minutes or so, the people would get restless and demand money. (I got the idea that the chiefs pocketed a rather large portion for themselves.) We had to argue: trying to explain that we’d paid already. It was a hassle.
I spotted this old woman sitting there by her little house, smoothing a curved piece of calabash into a shallow bowl. She concentrated on her work…oblivious and maybe a bit out of it was my thought as I raised my camera and fired off a few shots. I’d get an interesting shot and she’d never know.
NOT!! She had heard the shutter and she sprang to her feet and rushed up to me. Holding our her hand, shaking it in my face, she yelled, “Brr! Brr!” Yikes! That’s the name of the Ethiopian money. She wanted some and she wanted it now. She was neither oblivious nor out of it. She was keen and spry and she was also angry. Don’t make assumptions is my advice.