Tribes of the Great Rift Valley

Elizabeth L. Gilbert

ISBN 10: 0810994119 / ISBN 13: 9780810994119

Published by Abrams, 2007

About this Item

Large format hardcover, 272 pages, illustrated throughout, NOT ex-library. Weight over 2.2kg. Book is clean and bright throughout with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Gentle external handling wear. Dust jacket shows light edgewear. -- This is a coffee-table photographic record of the traditional communities living along the Great Rift Valley, stretching from the Gulf of Aden to the plains of Tanzania and Malawi. Elizabeth L. Gilbert, a veteran photojournalist who spent over a decade in the region, uses black-and-white photography to document societies facing rapid transformation. The work serves as a visual time capsule of diverse ethnic groups and their specific customs, featuring the Maasai and Samburu warrior cultures alongside the Mursi, Karo, and Hamar tribes of Ethiopia. Gilbert's portraits focus on distinctive rites and adornments, such as the Karo's "guinea-fowl" body painting and the Hamar bull-jumping ceremonies, while also documenting the Batwa honey seekers of the forest. The photography combines intimate close-ups with broad views of the harsh Rift Valley terrain, emphasizing the scale of the landscape and the presence of its inhabitants.

Seller Inventory # 012588

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Tribes of the Great Rift Valley
• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810994119
• ISBN 13: 9780810994119
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Tribes of the Great Rift Valley is a celebration of the traditional peoples who occupy the lands of the Great Rift Valley, from the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Eritrea, across the Ethiopian highlands, and down to the great lakes and plains of Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi. Here are the proud, majestic warriors of the Maasai and Samburu, the Mursi with their jutting lip-plates, the guinea-fowl-painted faces of the Karo, the bull jumpers of the Hamar, and the honey seekers of the forests, the Batwa, among many other tribes. These fascinating peoples of the Rift Valley are remarkably diverse, yet sadly, nearly all of these communities face extinction in the near future due to Western influence.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s glorious black-and-white photography accompanied by her thoughtful, engaging text, offers sweeping views of this magnificent and sometimes harsh landscape and its peoples. Thought-provoking and remarkable, Tribes of the Great Rift Valley is a time capsule, perhaps even the last record, of age-old traditions and a way of life that will almost certainly soon vanish from our planet.

About the Author

Elizabeth L. Gilbert moved to Africa in 1991 to work as a photojournalist. Her images of conflicts and cultural issues in Somalia, Rwanda, and other East African countries have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Life, and The New York Times, as well as numerous major European publications. She is the author of Broken Spears: A Maasai Journey.