Vincent Dirckx | Samburu Warriors

Photo © Vincent Dirckx-All Rights Reserved 

I am featuring two gorgeous portraits of Samburu warriors by Vincent Dirckx, which were made during his recent travels to Northern Kenya. He tells me it took him 48 hours of traveling by an all terrain vehicle over rocky tracks and another trek of 24 hours with a camel caravan and porters to reach this particular tribe. The photographs were made using an off-camera flash and an ND filter, somewhat of a change for Vincent.

The Samburu are a Nilotic people of north-central Kenya that are related to but distinct from the Maasai, and it's based on a gerontocracy style of governance. Gerontocracy is defined as oligarchical rule in which a population or community is ruled by people significantly older than most. Moreover, the Samburu practice polygynous marriage, and a man may have multiple wives. While missionaries have had success in converting more Samburu to predominantly Catholic, and also Protestant forms of Christianity, the majority of Samburu continue to observe their traditional ritual practices.

Vincent Dirckx is a corporate lawyer and a photographer based in Belgium, who started his latter avocation in 2011. His travel photography is multi-faceted and during his many travels, he is eager to photograph the cultures, people, street life, monuments and landscapes that he encounters.

While his work in Northern Kenya amongst the Samburu tribes is his most recent, I encourage you to spend time viewing his other galleries; Omo Valley, Turkey, Japan, the Andes and the Amazon, Indonesia and India. You'll be amply rewarded with some exceptional photography.

Photo © Vincent Dirckx-All Rights Reserved