a simple place

This post is from the first trip for my ENEMIES Project.  Read more about it here: www.EnemiesProject.com.

Going into the middle of the Samburu-Turkana conflict was difficult, but in the end it was a positive experience.  This was different from my first shoot in the slums of Kibera.  There I met two people who never really considered themselves enemies to begin with.  The conflicts had risen and fallen like a fire flashing across a skim of gasoline – fast and furious and then mostly gone. The Samburu-Turkana conflict has been going on for generations, so it is a very, very different story.

The funny thing is that when I really talked in depth with people on both sides, they said that the conflict was not that big a deal – it almost seemed like they considered it more like a family feud. The Turkana said that their actual serious enemies are another tribe that lives nomadically in the area and raids both the Samburu and Turkana.  In this video I talk about my impressions talking with and meeting people from each side.

If you can’t see the video below, you can view it on youtube here.

Here is a first sketch I did for one of the photographs of two Grevy’s Zebra Trust Ambassadors – Lmantros Lenagetai on the right is Samburu and Lojore Loputhiki on the left is Turkana. This is just an idea. I know the final product is going to be very different, but I thought people might like to see some of my visual thinking process.

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This post is from the first trip for my ENEMIES Project.  Read more about it here: www.EnemiesProject.com.

I just got back from another trip to northern Kenya to photograph the Grevy’s Zebra and the Samburu and Turkana tribes  - two tribes who live with the Zebra and have been in violent conflict for years. It was a bit of an intense trip, and I have very mixed feelings about the area.  There were many good experiences, but also many difficult ones.  The Grevy’s Zebra Trust sees it’s mission as one of peace-building along with conservation, because they work with all of the tribes in the area equally.  I’ll write more about that later.

The Moran are the warrior class from the tribes. In both tribes, the young men are sent out into the bush at a young age. From that point on for seven to fifteen years they are not allowed to eat in the presence of women. They are not allowed to enter the village alone. They are essentially outcasts. If they die while still a moran, even if it is in battle, their bodies are simply left in the bush. They are non-people until they come back in from the bush and marry.

The conflicts between the Turkana and the Samburu almost always involve cattle rustling or reprisals for cattle rustling. Up there an average female cow can cost $200 and a bull twice that. There have been recent cases of up to 200 cattle being stolen – that is the equivalent of $40,000. the reprisal for this was an attack which killed two young children who were shot in the back as they ran away. None of these thefts or killings are ever investigated or prosecuted, and in fact they are often encouraged by the elders who conducted raids when they were young. The difference in this area is that the youth now have guns.  In the past, and further to the east, the moran typically only fought each other and only with traditional weapons.  This area where the Turkana and Samburu meet is more violent and the town of Baragoi feels unsettled and aggressive.

Below is my video blog. If it doesn’t play here, you can see it on youtube at this link.

This trip was in conjunction with the Grevy’s Zebra Trust, which works to conserve the endangered Grevy’s Zebra and to promote peace among the peoples who live in its range.