YONI BLAU | “Proud Woman of the Omo Valley”
Finalist at the International Open Call Competition. A collaboration of Florence Biennale, Art Market Magazine, and Lens Magazine.
This project (“Proud Woman of the Omo Valley”) was taken inside a Suri tribe in the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. The models were not dressed, simply recorded as is. No artificial lighting was used. The pictures were taken within a dark tent with the light coming in from the entrance of the tent.
It took three days of travel from Addis Ababa to reach the Omo. First, we flew to Jimma, and from there, we continued by car. Moving from cities to towns, to villages, to…nowhere. On the final day of driving, we soon saw the last of paved roads. We chugged along on improvised dirt paths, obstructed by cowherds and muddy river streams. Our destination? Deep in the jungle with the Suri village spiralling a web around us in all directions. There we were, living amongst the Suri people in the Omo Valley, experiencing their way of life, immersed in their daily routine. Discovering what raw existence really means.
In the Omo Valley, it feels as if time has no meaning. Days, months, seasons, and years are irrelevant in this timeless corner of the world.
The same goes for the concept of money or the modern angst that comes with the intellectual pursuit of the meaning of life and death. There, it is about life’s essentials; it’s all about freedom and bare necessities and about being satisfied, joyful, and surrounded by loved ones.
The artist tried capturing the essence of what it means to be “stuck in time,” which made him keep wondering whether the subjects were left behind or whether the modern world is the one who made the wrong turn.
This project taken in Dec 2019 feels more current than ever, especially in times like these with the Covid-19 global health crisis and the economic downturn, when we all got to spend some alone time and got back in touch with our most basic human needs and what “really matters.”
The artist tried capturing the essence of what it means to be “stuck in time,” which made him keep wondering whether the subjects were left behind or whether the modern world is the one who made the wrong turn.
YONI BLAU
Yoni Blau is a travel photographer based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Focusing on people, culture, and street photography. Yoni Picked up his first camera after completing his army service and found a new passion for capturing moments and memories from his travels. He spent the last fifteen years exploring and capturing the fascinatingly different cultures around the globe. Yoni’s latest project in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia has received significant recognition, including several publications, prizes, and gallery exhibitions.
