Aviad Tal is a freelance artist and photographer based in Haifa, Israel who has worked in amazing countries in West Africa and Southern Africa—but it was Ethiopia that grabbed his attention.
“I immediately felt a strong connection to the place and to the people. It felt like something totally different. It felt very complex with the Orthodox Church and its ancient ways, and an impressive history, definitely by African standards, but also by global standards.”
With his passion for Ethiopian culture, Aviad is trying to visit as much as he can to provide maximum opportunity for his inquisitive eye. He has visited three times in the past three years, travelling widely, making contact with all levels of society. “In my first visit, it was about feeling the place, the past and people. The second was to more firmly shape my understanding. It is a place that is always evolving.”
In the third visit, he started to find a mission: capturing everyday life, Ethiopia’s gracious and scared traditions, and its aspirations to modernity. Aviad calls his series Fountain, to accentuate “tension” between traditional Ethiopia and its modern counterpart, as seen by an outsider.
He depicted mundane images of buildings under-construction, or abandoned. The human form and face predominate, though most of the subjects are posing. A monochrome world of people with dowdy and stylish clothes, new shopping malls without the gleaming and shiny parts. Colourful thatched houses and apartments with satellite dishes. Country men and women in religious garbs; slaughtered and butchered sheep. The work reveals the photographer’s touch for tone and colour.
Some Ethiopians could be camera-shy, but after you start to communicate with them and show that you are not a potential threat, it is all good and some time, they even rally push me to take their pictures,” says Aviad.
The 37-year-old tries to put people at ease before taking pictures, something he learned a long time ago. “Maybe since I was 9 years old. My dad gave me an analog Pentax 35mm camera with no light meter, and I remember practicing sunny 16 rule in order to get the right exposure.”
He still uses an analog camera but a bit different than the one his dad gave him. His works were exhibited in Jerusalem three years ago and at a group exhibition a month ago in Haifa. He hopes soon to exhibit it in Ethiopia. “I want it to connect my work to the Ethiopian people and I’m very curious to see how they respond to it.”
All photos published are taken from the photographer’s website.
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Please cite Ethiopia Observer prominently and link clearly to the original article if you republish. If you have any queries, please contact us. Check individual images for licensing details.
