Having photographed the Timket festival and its processions in both Lalibela and Adwe, I stopped in the city of Gondar. Gondar was founded by the Ethiopian emperor Fasilidas around 1635, and is famous for its many medieval castles and the design and decoration of its churches.
The car stopped at the outskirts of the city for a minor repair, and I took this opportunity to stretch my legs and walk around, exploring the surroundings. I came across this young woman outside her home, sifting through teff, the grain used to make injera, the bread of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Injera is a pancake-like bread made out of the teff flour, which is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for a few days. As a result of this process, injera has a sour taste to it.
The woman was quite happy to be photographed, but when her mother suddenly peeked out of their front door, I was lucky enough to have grabbed the wonderful look on her face, as well the young woman's unsuccessful attempt at suppressing her laugh. When I finished photographing her, she finally laughed covering her mouth, as so many people do when they're shy.
I framed this Gondar maiden so that the white background of the wall was just above her shoulders, giving better definition to her face. By the way, this is not the photograph of the Ethiopian woman with the errant fly of my earlier post...so don't go hunting for traces of cloning! In fact, this photograph is 'pure'...no cropping, no cloning...just a touch of Level adjustments and Sharpening.
This photograph was published in The Digital Photographer, a British magazine.
