@joeyldotcom

Moryis, a subsistence hunter, carries the tail of a nile crocodile home to eat. The parade celebrates the successful hunt of his age group. 📍 Dassanach, Lake Turkana, Southern Ethiopia Photographed while VICE was out with us filming HUNTERS- a documentary about my work. 📽️ Link in bio

Nyiria and Loki bring a Nile crocodile hunted the night previously to shore. 📍Dassanach Nation, Lake Turkana, Ethiopia Photographed while VICE was out with us filming HUNTERS- a documentary about my work. 📽️ Link in bio

Introducing ETHIOPIA - A Photographic Tribute to East Africa’s Diverse Cultures and Traditions. This is 13 years of my life as a photographer is coming to the world as a fine art book Summer 2022. 📕 Link in bio What was it about Ethiopia that kept calling me back? My life will forever be intertwined with Ethiopia. In my teenage days, this country is where I first found my vision as a photographer. Later, Ethiopia would be where I found my home and my soul mate. This is the embodiment of everything that fueled me as an artist. Ethiopia is the birthplace of humanity. It is one of the oldest living nations in the world. It will also be around long after we are gone. It is a place that can make a decade of time suddenly disappear, and leave a collection of photographs like this behind. This collection is an ode to every distinct region of the country. These seemingly disconnected cultural threads are woven together in a cohesive visual style in order to truly see Ethiopia— which itself is the sum of all the diverse lands and the proud people who inhabit it. These photographs are not meant to obscure searing realities. There is traumatic conflict spread across Ethiopia. This collection is about the timeless and pure things that have withstood the politics of the day, and to challenge the way the outside world can perceive this country. The first edition of my last book sold out too fast and is now hard to find, so this early pre-order is a way for us to make sure everyone who wants one can get one. This will also help us calculate volume due to rising prices of paper and logistics from the pandemic. I would die for this project. This is my heart and soul. This is my tribute to the enduring Ethiopia. There are too many people to thank over the years. In short, @bosslady_tenu, @Nibbytravels, @hamerlandtours, @niallkenny, @jacksonfager, @anteneh_endale, @yonas_tadesse_, Nebiyu Bekele, John Elino, and Habtemariam Desalegn. I would also like to thank @tricknmortar and Ian Rummer for weaving together years of my footage into this trailer #Ethiopia #EthiopiaPhotobook Music used with permission by the talented @iridimusic

Moryis, a subsistence hunter, with Nile crocodile. One of the most dangerous and difficult photographs of my life. The feature VICE documentary about this portrait, and the making of my ETHIOPIA Collection is finally online for all to see. 🎥 Link in bio Surrounding Lake Turkana, there are hunters and fishermen who still use wooden harpoons and techniques thousands of years old to feed their communities. We stayed awake hunting together for 5 days and nights in little dugout canoes. Each night, we encountered a new failure, returning to camp exhausted. We all began to believe everything was cursed. After so many days without sleep, we began to hallucinate. In every shadow, we saw crocodiles moving. The rippled waters in light of the moon bore the crests of reptilian scales, gliding between the reeds. Looking deep into the water, we would see shadows beneath us. I was afraid we would fall asleep and roll the boat into the water. On our very last night, the vision became real. I want to thank @jacksonfager , @niallkenny, @bosslady_tenu, @nibbytravels, @hamerlandtours and everyone else on the film team who brought this documentary to life. Rarely does a documentary about our work capture our true spirit. This one does it.

Hana receives a blessing of holy water from her father, Kes Hailemariam, a priest. ⠀ This kind of photo must be shot in the right way. It requires trust between subject and photographer. Those receiving blessings of holy water from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are often nude, and it is a spiritual moment. It is not acceptable to shoot without permission. I was able to take this photograph of Hana at Lake Ziway because the priest is her father, Kes Hailemariam. After many collaborations photographing the church, we consider him and Hana like family friends. ⠀ People make pilgrimage from all around the lake. The sick, crippled, misfortunate, or just believers seeking a holy blessing. Sitting down with people, showing them your images, & explaining what all of this is for can go a long way. What would be impossible becomes very easy. Kes Hailemariam was proud to see both himself and his family included in a book that includes other regions of Ethiopia and other faiths because the portrayal is always the same: respect and dignity. ⠀ From my forthcoming book ETHIOPIA, which contains over 13 years of my work from the country. 📸 Link in bio. ⠀ 📍 Lake Ziway / Batu, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Orthodox worshippers rush into Lake Ziway to receive the blessing of holy water during the Timket festival. ⠀ 📍 Lake Ziway / Batu, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

During the Timket celebration at Lake Ziway, Ethiopia, the tabot (a replica of the Ten Commandments), is carefully transported from an island monastery to the mainland shore within a procession of wooden and papyrus boats. ⠀ #melkamtimket #timket #timkat #ziway #ethiopia

Melkam Timket መልካም ጥምቀት ⠀ During the Timket celebration at Lake Ziway, Ethiopia, the tabot (a replica of the Ten Commandments), is carefully transported from an island monastery to the mainland shore within a procession of wooden and papyrus boats. ⠀ #melkamtimket #timket #timkat #ziway #ethiopia

We photographed the last Timket (ጥምቀት) celebration at Lake Ziway for my forthcoming book containing 13 years of work from Ethiopia. ⠀ This is the legend of how the people of Lake Ziway came to celebrate Timket in a unique way. The islands of Lake Ziway contain hidden Tewahedo Orthodox monasteries. In the 16th century, the Zay people took refuge on the islands, keeping alive their faith & protecting holy artifacts from invaders. ⠀ During the Timket celebration, from an island monastery on the lake, the tabot (a replica of the Ten Commandments) is carefully removed and transported within a procession of wooden and papyrus boats to the mainland shore. The next morning, worshippers rush into Lake Ziway to receive a blessing of holy water. The tabot is kept on the mainland for just a day before being returned to the safety of the hidden island. ⠀ #timket #timkat #ziway #ethiopia #zeway

We photographed the last Timket (ጥምቀት) celebration at Lake Ziway, Ethiopia for my forthcoming book. (📸Link in bio) ⠀ This is the legend of how the people of Lake Ziway came to celebrate Timket in a unique way. The islands of Lake Ziway contain hidden Tewahedo Orthodox monasteries. In the 16th century, the Zay people took refuge on the islands, keeping alive their faith & protecting holy artifacts from invaders. ⠀ During the Timket celebration, from an island monastery on the lake, the tabot (a replica of the Ten Commandments) is carefully removed and transported within a procession of wooden and papyrus boats to the mainland shore. The next morning, worshippers rush into Lake Ziway to receive a blessing of holy water. The tabot is kept on the mainland for just a day before being returned to the safety of the hidden island. ⠀ #timket #timkat #ziway #ethiopia

The final NOMADS exhibition installation at Palazzo Gil, Campobasso, Italy. The show will be up for a month longer, until July 31st. ⠀ A huge thank you to @eoloperfido @acatane @biba_giacchetti @cheroky57 @molichrom_festival and @sudest57 for overseeing the installation of this very complicated setup, which turned out more beautiful than I imagined!

The people who live on the fringes of society, the people who live on the outskirts of the empire, will probably outlast us all. ⠀ My new exhibition NOMADS. Showing June 24 until July 31at Palazzo Gil, Campobasso, Italy. ⠀ The show features work from Mongolia, Kurdistan & India, as well as new, unreleased work from Ethiopia that will be published in my forthcoming book. Sign up for updates (link in bio) ⠀ FEATURING: @nibbytravels @bosslady_tenu ⠀ THANK YOU: @eoloperfido @acatane biba_giacchetti @cheroky57 @sudest57 @molichrom_festival @michelemessere @_giuseppenucci @augusto__pieroni ⠀ BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO: Simone D’Angelo, Simone Tittaferrante, Annalisa Montanaro