Description
The Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania maintain one of Africa’s most visually distinctive cultural identities — the vivid red shuka wrap, the elaborate beaded jewellery, the extended earlobes, and the ochre-tinted hair of their ceremonial dress create an aesthetic of remarkable coherence and beauty. Amboseli National Park — at the foot of Kilimanjaro on the Kenya-Tanzania border — provides the classic combination of Maasai landscape, big game, and Africa’s highest mountain. This photograph was made in cooperation with a Maasai cultural liaison who facilitated a formal portrait session with a community elder. The background — Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped summit above the acacia-dotted savanna — was achieved by positioning at mid-afternoon when Kilimanjaro was clear of its characteristic cloud cover. The elder’s expression carries the quality of deep cultural confidence characteristic of Maasai elders in their own territory.
