vocational training for the karamajong – soroti uganda
Here’s a change of direction after spending a few days in remote northern Uganda. Part of the EU Peacebuilding Program is geared towards providing access to alternative livelihoods besides farming and pastorism in drought conditions. This vocational school in Soroti includes students who come from Karamoja. Carpentry, building construction, welding and driving education were all taught there, among other things.
confiscated karamajong AK-47s – kaabong uganda
A lot of my documentary work, intentionally or not, tends to be pretty on-the-fly. It’s just the reality of NGO field work in Uganda – the best laid plans invariably get tossed out and you tend to do what’s available now. The shot of the recovered Karamajong weapons was not one of those cases. We knew we wanted photos of them, we knew it would be difficult to get the access, we planned and made phone calls, and it all came together.
land, people, cows – karamoja uganda
Even after living in Uganda for 3 1/2 years, the remote northeastern part of the country feels like entering another world. It really highlights how diverse this country is. From Kampala, you can drive for 5 hours in any direction and be in a new landscape, a new ecosystem, a new culture. And on these roads, 5 hours isn’t much distance.
karamajong boys in kotido uganda
OK, so now we’re getting in to the thick of things. Due to the realities of Ugandan field work, our day didn’t really get started until around 6pm. Finally out and about, I wanted some landscape photos and there was a rock, so i climbed it. Beautiful landscape and sky, clouds and sun to set it off just right. These four kids saw me from afar and joined me on the rock. They were happy as could be and just what I needed after a somewhat frustrating day.
horizons in moroto – karamoja uganda
Lokopo protected kraal. This place is flat and the sky above and the dust below are relentless. The horizon features prominently in just about any image. I’m back making some photos for Save the Children in Uganda. I would write more, but the battery indicator on my mac says 3%.
seed distribution in nakapiripirit district – karamoja region uganda
More documentary photography for Save the Children in Uganda, here in Nakapiripirit district, the southern part of the Karamoja region. Distributing seeds for planting – sorghum, beans, and g-nuts (ground nuts, peanuts). the idea is to promote alternative ways to make an income and get food. Too much violence surrounding cattle keeping.
sunrise in moroto – karamoja region uganda
arriving at six thirtysomething in the am at the kraal to photo the karamajong children attending classes and taking care of their cattle. chasing the light so i could get exactly this kind of backdrop for the children wrapped in their colorful blankets…
…except when it happened we were in the army detach, following protocol by [...]
karamajong children receive schooling – moroto, uganda
below is a series of images from my recent trip to the karamoja region of uganda. the karamajong are nomadic pastoralists, meaning they keep cattle and are constantly on the move looking for food and water for their livestock. raiding cattle has always been a way of life for the karamajong, a practice that turned [...]
family in their home – gulu district, uganda
more portraits inside a windowless home! with all the practice lately, i feel like i can do this with one hand tied behind my back.
however, this one initially gave me some fits because i couldn’t get enough light. this was the house where bounce flash went to die. i went manual at full power and [...]
martha
documenting some of the work that CAFWA, Community Action Fund for Women in Africa, is doing in northern uganda.
here, martha is standing in the middle of her home, some years ago destroyed by the LRA. she herself was twice abducted and twice escaped from the LRA.
earlier in the day, in the IDP camp, i asked [...]
CAFWA workshop – gulu district, uganda
these folks had gathered to show their gardens and to attend a presentation on a beginning literacy project.
there were lots of smiles all day.
not much else to say here. i like that you can tell that all eight people are laughing/smiling.
it wasn’t until about the fourth or fifth time looking at this photo that i [...]
dinner time at a CAFWA workshop – gulu, uganda
after a full day of refresher courses on microfinance, as well as a dance performance for their guests, these women were ready to EAT. it is an amazing thing to see the plates of food that ugandans can put down. i don’t know if i could have even kept up in my skiing days.
on tap [...]
stephen in his shop – mubende district, uganda
stephen is a community health worker from deep in mubende district who i interviewed and photographed. he does depo provera shots. depo is injected birth control for women, i think lasting three months between treatments.
the rainbow over the flower symbol on his shirt is the universal (at least in uganda) family planning symbol.
got a couple [...]
fred in his barber shop – ssembabule town, uganda
a container-car barber shop in ssembabule town. saw it when i was in the neighborhood and dropped by later with my camera. talked to fred a bit and took some photos.
STOKED at how it turned out.
what more is there to say?
best gas station ever – koboko district, west nile region uganda
i have always had this thing for shipping containers. can’t get enough. needless to say, season 2 of the wire was right up my alley.
there is a lot of good shipping container architecture here in uganda, but so far i think this is the best. i’ve always liked gas stations, too, so really i’m batting [...]
community health volunteer – west nile region uganda
i spent three days this week gathering interviews and documenting program activities for a malaria project that operates in the west nile region of uganda. west nile is the northwest corner of uganda, on the border of sudan and d.r. congo. as you might imagine, it the the region of the country that’s west of [...]
mother and child – uganda west nile region
i spent three days this week gathering interviews and documenting program activities for a malaria project that operates in the west nile region of uganda. west nile is the northwest corner of uganda, on the border of sudan and d.r. congo. as you might imagine, it the the region of the country that’s west of [...]
mother and child – uganda west nile region
i spent three days this week gathering interviews and documenting program activities for a malaria project that operates in the west nile region of uganda. west nile is the northwest corner of uganda, on the border of sudan and d.r. congo. as you might imagine, it the the region of the country that’s west of [...]
ochen
i just got my pocketwizards. this was my first real attempt at some off-camera light.
most of the soft light is provided by the open garage door at camera right. i hung a flash from the ceiling to add some rim lighting to his head.
at the time, newspapers seemed like an interesting idea for a backdrop. [...]
hatari the chipanzee – kyambura gorge, uganda
my mom and i went chimp trekking in the kyambura gorge in queen elizabeth national park in southwest uganda. it’s my third time chimp trekking and my second time at kyambura gorge.
this trip produced by far the best sightings so far. we had significant time with this male, hatari, on the ground, as well as [...]
ethiopia 2008 slide show (happy new year!)
quick like bunnies, here is a slide show with some of my favorite shots from our week in ethiopia.
let me know what you think. got any faves?
we really enjoyed our trip…pleasant surprises all around. will definitely want to go back if the opportunity presents itself. especially after next year’s publication of the stevenson/fanshawe horn of [...]
lalibela pilgrim – ethiopia
maybe people are more friendly, maybe more curious of white people with cameras, maybe i was just in tourist mode…but for whatever reason i ended up taking a bunch of portraits this trip.
this guy was so stoked at seeing his photo in the LCD screen on the back. it was great to see the reaction.
ethiopian [...]
merry christmas from phil and odin!
part of being a dad for me is figuring out all the cool things that odin can do ahead of schedule.
that said, i’m not sure where balancing on hands fits in but i thought it was pretty sweet for a four-month, 23 day-old kiddo.
lalibela priest – ethiopia
this is a testament to good light. photo is straight from the camera, no nothing done to it.
i had seen some photos of lalibela on flickr etc. when i was travel planning our ethiopia trip and figuring out what to do with our week. there was a photo of this same priest that i loved [...]
