Exploration with Culture
Meet Margaret, a paper bead jeweler from the Lira District in Northern Uganda. Margaret moved to Jinja in the early 1980s to escape the Lord’s Resistance Army. Today, she is able to pay rent each month all thanks to All Across Africa in Uganda.
For more visit www.CameronKarsten.com
In February of this year, I joined All Across Africa in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi for an amazing two-week journey through their women’s basket weaving cooperatives, as well as sewing schools designed for young adults. It was a beautiful experience showing the strength of a non-profit empowering locals by providing proper skill set training as well as a growing community of business development. The following are images throughout Rwanda. All products can be purchased by going to www.AllAcrossAfrica.org
Please visit www.AllAcrossAfrica.org to support the women of Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi
Earlier this year I spent two weeks with All Across Africa helping them rebrand their work throughout Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. With their new website up and running, I’ve fallen in love with Margaret’s (Nightingale Handmade) designs on a few of the images created for AAA. Enjoy these beautiful postcards and go visit www.AllAcrossAfrica.org to make a purchase for the women of East Africa.
While on assignment in Africa for the first two months of 2014, I was captivated by the way humanity transports itself and its’ cargo. This new project highlights the unique and massive modes of transportation the African continent moves about. From West African countries Benin and Togo to East Africa’s Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, all modes are the same: extreme, beautiful and oddly delicate.
The paddle boat is an easy means of transportation for fisherman and the obvious choice for floating villages – Lake Tanganyika, Bujumbura, Burundi.
A woman paddles with her child in the early morning to the floating market of Ganvie – Lake Nakoue, Ganvie, Benin.
Bikes are cheap and easy to fix, but the roadway and traffic can be horrendous – Bujumbura, Burundi.
Oil drums being transported through downtown Bujumbura, Burundi.
Bicycles are ubiquitous, and so are mountainous hills, in northern Burundi. Men hitch rides by grabbing onto the sides and rear of large lorry trucks heading up and heading down – Northern Burundi.
Many young men hop lorry trucks when traveling up and down the northern hills of Burundi – Northern Burundi.
A long walk to the border from Bujumbura, Burundi to The Democratic Republic of Congo. Burundi is ripe with agriculture, so many travel to the border to sell their harvests to Congolese – Bujumbura, Burundi.
In the countryside, the movement of people on foot often looks like a mass exodus. People walk miles to crop land, distant markets, and back home within a day – Virunga Mountains, Rwanda.
Slopes are carved out with foot paths that lead to neighboring villages and fields – Virunga Mountains, Rwanda.
Dotting Africa are a host of infrastructure projects, most sponsored by Chinese firms. Here a Djagli, a mythical bird in Vodou culture, rests between performances – Allada, Benin.
An infrastructure project in Northern Burundi, which was washed out by the previous season’s flash floods – Northern Burundi.
A tea picker near Ngozi, Burundi walks home after a day’s work – Burundi.
An empty wheel barrel on the tea plantation – Ngozi, Burundi.
A young boy fishing on Lake Nakoue – Ganvie, Benin.
Along a construction road, young boys and men haul bananas to roadside stands offering produce, charcoal grilled corn, meats, and assorted snacks – Northern Burundi.
Traffic careens and passes the two-lane highways, passing villages, bustling markets and school courtyards. Traffic hazards are many for motors, cyclists and children heading to and from school – Northern Burundi.
For more visit http://www.CameronKarsten.com
I’ve been sifting through imagery as I prepare to head to New York City for the 2013 Eddie Adams Workshop and meetings with potential clients. What I’ve found has allowed me to relive the beautiful memories of past travels and the people and places I met. Here, Africa represents itself in all its wondrous enjoyment, with the hopes of near returns on future assignments.
Hamar, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Somewhere in the Afar Desert, Ethiopia
The Layla House Adoption House, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The streets of Lagos, Nigeria
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Nairobi, Kenya
Hamar boy, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Diani Beach, Kenya
Hamar girls, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Tuti, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
For more please visit: Travel
By approaching Rwanda Partners and offering them my help, I scored the opportunity to take a selection of their bowls into the studio and photograph them for their website. With three lights, some plexi glass and fishing line, I was able to create a clean, depth-defining product shot to help them better portray their products. Hopefully, more opportunities will arise with Rwanda Partners after the initial shoot. Visit RwandaPartners.org for more.
Location: SCCA Studios
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/160 sec at ƒ/16, ISO 100, tripod.
Post: Capture One & Adobe PS6
Welcome to Jinka of The Lower Omo Valley in southwestern Ethiopia. It is a vibrant market town where the local nomadic tribe of the Mursi people come to trade for supplies. The Mursi are traditionally cattle herders and live in one of the most isolated regions of Ethiopia. They are most known for the clay plates, which women wear starting at the age of 15. It took us three days to reach Jinka, combining the transportation of local buses, taxis and hitch-hiking along dusty dirt roads that roared through every vertebrae within your spine.
Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium 