'First of all, I simply think this is a very beautiful photograph. The way it came about is also very special to me. I took it while I was in Ethiopia on assignment.
This woman belongs to the Mursi people. Tourists had been coming to Ethiopia for around three years by then. They would arrive in a large coach, spend about ten minutes photographing these people, and then leave again. This had completely changed the community's response to visitors: people would confront you as soon as you arrived and insist that you take their photographs for money. It had become a business.
Nine different peoples live in this area, but the situation among the Mursi had become extreme. Tourists would leave deeply disillusioned. People confronted them, asked for money, and some even carried AK47 rifles.
Everyone was posing. I was at a loss. How was I ever going to make a natural photograph here, I wondered. In the end, I stayed all day, from early morning until late in the evening. At one point I ran off, and some of them ran after me. Once I had gone a long way into the countryside, they approached me and finally acted like themselves. There was no more pressure about money; it was a turning point. If you spend longer with people, you understand them better and can better appreciate why they behave as they do. They also stop noticing the camera. It was important to me that I managed to make a real connection with them.
The photograph was made using an off-camera flash and a wide-angle lens. This made the woman stand out while the background became very dark. Mursi women traditionally wear lip plates in their lower lips, but this woman had inserted a stone. The yellow color of her eyes suggests malnutrition.'
Name: Robin Utrecht (1974)
Based in: Rotterdam
Info: www.robinutrecht.nl
