They will lose their traditions
Pit Buehler has photographed the tribes of southern Ethiopia. NZZ 07.01.2014 | Text; Susanne Holz, Pictures; Pit Buehler
Baar - 80 kilos of luggage, 60 of which was photographic equipment. That's how much material Pit Buehler from Baar took with him to southern Ethiopia in October. In addition to exciting portraits, scorpions, poisonous spiders, heat, dust and hours of driving over gravel roads in a Landcruiser that was not always in working order awaited him there. For around 15 days, the freelance photographer took portraits of around 350 members of the traditional tribes of the Omo Valley, including the Mursi warriors, who are known for the «scarification» and lip plates on their women.
Tribal warriors provide protection
«Pit Buehler calls the resulting photo series »Once they were warriors«. His aim was to create a contemporary document: »These people are living works of art,« says the photographer. And: »They will probably lose many of their traditions.« The Ethiopian government has sold their land to international agricultural companies, which have turned the fertile pastureland into plantations. A huge dam project, the development of oil fields and the influence of Western cultures have also led to more and more tribal members turning away from their traditional way of life. »You can feel the change," says Buehler, describing his view of things.
The business economics graduate, who has been working as a freelance photographer since 2008 and is primarily active in the field of portrait and people photography, spent a total of three weeks in Ethiopia in October. He organized a local driver and interpreter, whom he knew from a previous expedition to the region. He was also accompanied by an Afro-French photography assistant and a German ethnologist. He was protected by local guides and tribal warriors.
Every photo is negotiated
A major camera manufacturer had sponsored some of its equipment in advance. The photos were taken quickly and spontaneously on location, without a flash and with a black cloth as a background. «These people are very open and proud and are perfect as models, but they are also often very impatient and quickly become aggressive,» explains Pit Buehler. The photographer negotiated a common business behavior of these tribes for each photo.
The Baar native is now showing ten of his portraits from the photo series «Once they were warriors» at Photo 14 in Zurich, the largest exhibition of Swiss photography, in which he also took part last January (Photo 13). (Susanne Holz)
Note: More pictures of Pit Buehler on the homepage www.blackocean.ch
