I am completely enamoured by the people here. Lucky for me, they are equally as interested in me. It’s not often they see a ‘ferenje’ (white person) walking in their home town.
I really can’t get enough of them. Their lives are so simple, their disposition so pure. They are reall, virtually untouched by the Western world… and are the most genuine people I’ve ever come across. They don’t understand our humor, and are entertained by things like Mike and I holding hands.
I wanted to find a way to capture their spirit. I started playing around with a new angle in my photography… one where I held my camera down by side and clicked the shutter, unbeknownst to the subject. I figured this would make both our lives easier: For me, I wouldn’t have to struggle to catch a moment off-guard. For them, they wouldn’t have to be embarassed by my camera’s intimidating lenses. My hope was to make the moments more candid and less forced. Also, it was important to capture these images at the children’s eye level so we can see the world as they do.
This sweet little girl was my first portrait I took. She is one of Mike’s favorites, someone who comes and greets him whenever he goes to teach at Hope Academy. She ran to greet both of us and after holding Mike’s hand for a bit, ran to the other side to do it to me. This is the moment when I snapped her portrait. Her excitement can best be remembered this way.
These are a few snaps I got when we first went to visit Mike’s kindergarten class. We were showing them the video I made about my last trip to Ethiopia on my iPad — they were completely in awe. The girl in the red is one of my favorites — she always greets me with a thousands kisses on my neck and hands. 
We snapped a Instax photo (the Polaroid) of the whole class for Teshfanish, Mike’s other teacher he works with. I always love seeing their reactions to the “magic.”
On our way home, a quaint family in front of their simple home caught our eye. They were the perfect family for my film project. I took a photo of this mother and her three children. I watched as they stood mesmerized as the photo appeared before their eyes. The genuine gratitude they showed for such a simple token was humbling. The mother then rewarded us with a great photo opportunity of freshly picked and ripened Ethiopian Coffee.
Wow Carly. Wow.
The way the light is falling through the window onto that little boy in the classroom literally made me stop in my scrolling tracks. These are wonderful Kins <3
I love your new method for taking pictures! The candidate nature is PRICELESS and the first picture of the little girl is exceptionally incredible! So proud of you and Mike. Keep up the good work!
Is that a little Jib-let (blonde dog in two pictures)? He's huge!
These photos are incredible! Love the project!!
Great images that really capture the pure beauty of these people. Wonderful.
You are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing such great moments with us. I wish so much that we could come and experience part of it with Mike but I feel like I kind of have after seeing all of your pictures.
Love you both
Alisha
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