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Unmarried Himba Male
Travel dreams are made of this! A young man from the Himba tribe rests on the beautiful banks of the Kunene River: the river that serves as a boundary between Namibia and neighbouring Angola.
It was a beautiful scene: the red, rocky banks on the Angolan shore of Kunene River contrasting with the rushing green waters and the sandy foreshore on the Namibian side. A young man, recognisable as an unmarried Himba by his hairstyle, sat on a rock, stick in hand.
It was, of course, a constructed image, not a “found” one.
One of the luxuries of being part of a photo-group is that someone else has done a lot of the homework: I was on the banks of the Kunene River in Namibia, a short walk from our campsite at Epupa, with photographer Ben McRae, local guide Morne Griffiths, and a small group of photography enthusiasts. Two young Himba men had been hired to come along as models. It was late afternoon, and the African sun was still hot and jagged, but we were going to work at shooting portraits with Ben’s soft-boxes and off-camera flashes.
We’d had a practice session in the morning: shooting pictures of each other while telling Pedro Ferrão Patrício from Photoburst where to place the equipment in relation to our subjects. I’ve never had much joy with my own flash, and because of the weight, generally just leave it at home. So, it was a lot of fun working with equipment someone else had carried and with willing subjects.
Join me for a “model shoot” in the northern-most reaches of Namibia.
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Photographer Ben McRae
Ben’s not crazy about having his picture made, but it’s only fair that he have his turn! Mid-morning, he set up the lights and reflectors in a picnic shelter, and we worked against a stone wall.
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Namibian Guide Morne
Looking a bit like an ad for polo shirts, Morne takes his turn in front of the lights.
In Search of a Location
Late afternoon we set off: two young Himba men in traditional dress and an older Himba man, local guide Tom, who would act as our translator.
Himba Guide Tom
Generally, Himba choose to adhere to their rather austere traditional lifestyle. As a guide, Tom has a foot in both camps. He talks to us about the cultural practices of his people.
Unpacking the Gear
Our Himba models wait patiently while Ben sets out his equipment.
Young Himba Male
Like other Himba, this young man is rather vague about how old he is: years are described by discrete events (e.g.: “the year of the late storms”) rather than numbers, and age is relevant only with respect to puberty and marriage.
Young Himba Male
We guess him to be about 17.
Young Himba Male
We know he is unmarried by his hairstyle: a single braided plait sculpted to the back of his head.
Making the Shot
We take turns working with the young men as Ben moves the lighting around on command.
Young Himba Male
Our young subject has a cheeky, intelligent face.
Young Himba Male
He speaks little or no English, and I can find out nothing about him, except that he loves soccer – as, it seems, do most young men his age around the world.
Unmarried Himba Man
Our other subject is older – we guess around 25. He is due to get married (into an arranged marriage) “soon”. Himba men
Unmarried Himba Male
His smile clearly shows the filed gap in his front teeth: Himba children have their front bottom teeth (incisors) knocked out and the two top front teeth filed into an upside-down “V”. It hurts just thinking about it!
Unmarried Himba Man
We think the young men are related: cousins or brothers, …
Unmarried Himba Man
… but they are not local, so Tom is not really sure.
Hairstyle
As the day grows late, the colours of the river deepen. I make a photo from behind, hoping to catch that wonderful thatch of hair.
Himba Man
Afternoon Lights
The shadows lengthen as the afternoon closes into evening over the Kunene River …
Himba Man
… until the ambient light is almost gone.
Himba Man at Rest
The lights are packed up and it is time to go – but I can’t resist one last shot, made in the dim twilight of a long African day.
I walked back to camp with the two young men, who were eager to get going, as they had more than an hour’s walk ahead of them to their final destination, and the light was falling fast. We picked our way carefully over the jagged rocks in the dimming twilight.
As we came near Epupa Falls on the Kunene River, the older of the two stopped, stretched his hand over the scene, and said to me: “Beautiful.”
It might have been the only English word he knew, but really, what else needed to be said?
Until next time!
Photographs: 18August2015
