"Ethiopia’s Omo valley is one of the most remote wildernesses in Africa— and a place close to our hearts. After many visits over the last thirty years, on foot and via four-wheel drive, we decided to penetrate the Omo River by boat. Lale Biwa, our Kara guide, answered our calling.
Lale’s people, the Kara, are the smallest of eight tribes in the region; they number fewer than two thousand and live in four small villages of domed huts. They are renowned for their colorful face and torso painting, designed to attract the eye of the opposite sex during courtship season, which begins after the rains.
Each morning Kara men went down to the river to paint their bodies and came back to our tents to surprise us with fresh new designs, waiting eagerly to be photographed before they went off to court young women. After rigorous courtship dancing, the designs wore off, only to be refreshed each morning with another innovative pattern. This body painting is one of the oldest art forms in Africa; evidence of its origins is found in early African cave paintings and rock engravings dating back to the Stone Age." In this image "Performing the courtship dance, young Kara men form long lines and leap high in the air to impress the admiring young women." We are delighted to announce we will be giving a talk at the @natural_history_museum , #London on 13