Gabbra Matriarch with Women and Girls, Ethiopian Refugee Camp, Walda, Kenya

Currently not on view

Gabbra Matriarch with Women and Girls, Ethiopian Refugee Camp, Walda, Kenya

1993

Fazal Ilhai Sheikh (American, born 1965)

In Africa during the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people escaped wars in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan by going to Kenya. Many chose to stay along Kenya’s border in refugee camps. Fazal Ilhai Sheikh felt uncomfortable with the way other photojournalists rushed through the camps, spending less than a day there and taking pictures only of what they expected to see. He wanted to learn the complicated stories of the people he photographed, so he decided to spend three years taking pictures there. He also asked the elders for permission before inviting someone to sit for a portrait, established a direct and respectful way of photographing his subjects, and collaborated with them in the making of each picture.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Gabbra Matriarch with Women and Girls, Ethiopian Refugee Camp, Walda, Kenya

Date:

1993

Artist:

Fazal Ilhai Sheikh (American, born 1965)

Medium:

Toned gelatin silver print (right section of triptych)

Dimensions:

Image: 14 1/16 × 16 15/16 inches (35.7 × 43.1 cm) Sheet: 15 7/8 × 19 3/4 inches (40.3 × 50.2 cm)

Classification:

Photographs

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Marie Josephine Rozet Fund and the Haney Foundation Fund, 1994

Accession Number:

1994-74-1c

Geography:

Photograph taken in Kenya, Africa

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Currently not on view