Tag: Ethiopia
Hyena Feeding, Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
The people of Harar have traditionally had a special relationship with hyenas, which, in addition to their role as scavengers, are believed to be able to carry off evil spirits by passing near a person so affected. The feeding of hyenas is carried out at two sites currently; one, the more popular with tourists, is at a muslim shrine (the locals are Sufis) outside the walls, and the feeder is the man who keeps the shrine. In addition to putting on a show of how close he gets to the animals while handing them their strips of camel meat, he will also let visitors feed the hyenas, handing them a stick pre-laden with meat, which the guest can then hold out for the hyenas. I fed them a few times, but did not take any photos while doing so.
“I am a Winner”, Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
Women chat at a typical Harari shop, with a window to the street from inside the multi-family walled compound.
Shop Scene with Goat (Goat #4), Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
Women (and a goat) chat at a typical shop on the streets of Harar.
Goat #3 (Chewing Chat), Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
This goat is partaking of the leaves of chat (qat), the favorite past-time and narcotic of choice of the Harari people. Only the young soft leaves are chewed to gain the narcotic effects (followed by a period of stimulation), so the rest are thrown into the street for the goats, with predictable results in terms of alternatively sedated and stimulated goats.
Goat #2, Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
Goat week!
Goat #1, Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
Street Scene, Harar, Ethiopia, 2009
A man walks by a poster showing some of the Italian influence in Harar, as elsewhere in Ethiopia.
Dog #1, Harar, Ethiopia, August 2009
A dog sits in front of a shop on the main street of the old city of Harar. Two variants, person and no.
All this week (which is a travel week, so no guarantee how many there will be), I will post dogs of Harar.
Cat #5, Harar, Ethiopia, July 2009
I was really interested in the second version of this image, with the cat looking into the laundry, when I was shooting it. On reflection, I think the a version is stronger, but I couldn’t resist sharing both.
That’s all the cat photos for this week–next week, dogs (more cat photos in the future!).
Update (17 April 2011): Apparently this photo has been turned into a mixed-media painting elsewhere on the internet:
