Ethiopia: Mursis' sign of beauty Photo

Photographer’s Note

"Copyright © – Attila Szili.
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."

Before visiting Mursi's village, I was informed about the assault of the tourists at this tribe. The reason is evident. Of course, I was interested too but at only one condition. Since they're located in several villages and many of them far from the main paths and not easily accessible, I asked to visit one of these. Tourists are concentrated in the nearest village and like my guide said it's a kind of circus there, especially in the dry season. We agreed, if in the village we were going to visit would be one jeep more, the excursion would be gratis for me. He earned his money and I enjoyned the visit completely satisfied. Only four of us -my wife,the guide,an armed ranger and me- and the Mursi.
Mursi are considered one of the most fascinating tribes on earth and at the same time are appointed like thievers, savages, inhospitables and aggressive. During the three hours I was there, I didn't had this impression.

Some basic infos about Mursi people: nomadic cattle herders,with an estimated population of about 3900.
Surrounded by mountains between the Omo River and its tributary the Nino, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated region of Ethiopia.
What attracts visitors is definitely the clay made lip plate weared by Mursi women. There are several theories to explain the practice: the lip plates were used to deter slavers looking for unblemished girls, to prevent evil from entering the body through the mouth or to indicate social status by showing the number of cattles required by the wearer's family for her marriage. The first explanation seemes to be the most accredited among the local population. Nowadays the plate is used prevalently for ornamental purposes.
The plates are of different sizes depending of the lower lip's extension and that on the photo was the biggest one I've seen there. The diameter is of 15 cm.

cyrrhus, james-r, dougie, besnard, riclopes, imrek, ndb1958, xuaxo, andante, tinamunk3, prezntime, TeresaT, chrisnet, rbcy1974, paura, gilou530, benkrut, gypsygirl58, AiresSantos, sarahnatalie, siolaw, turkamerikali, tjanze, jjcordier, axiotea, sufi, Photo65Net, lestans, Mistral, maximage, parbo, fjufju, Graal, m_s_s, HOBO, PixelTerror, Cricri, jhm, leiju, ahmetgedikli, berek, ramesh_lalwani, papagolf21, Wanda1, CRATEOS, Scharan, vincz, cunejo200, vhemmati, sothy81, Lore007, jaja1970, Traveller, evgenia, pinakie_slg, siamakjafari, thea0211, devimeuxbe, MichaelTrezzi, tigra, MarieAnge, Hellas, Bogdan011, arne, bullybeef53, soulie, prasadpaul, edytungkal, StefanPata, saxo042, rshrestha, nisko, pattyis, powoj, Prisley, vmukherjee, bebel ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

moli (0) 2006-10-07 6:46

Wow! Great!

cyrrhus (2878) 2006-10-07 6:47

Hi Attila,
I must confess I had never heard about the Musi before... and your contribution is very impressive.
Of course, this is not the kind of lady we meet everyday... and this is not a new mood that will be easy to launch.
Thanks for sharing the world with us and having been a step further than the tourist mass.
I would be interested to see how many witnesses of modern civilization are present in this village and whether you had to crop them or not (often a Coca Cola or Nike symbol is present somewhere). I just notice that she is wearing a modern bag ;-)
Thanks for sharing this anthropologic document (I hope TE's archive will last for ever !)
Eric /.

james-r (672) 2006-10-07 6:48

Fantastic note and a fascinating portrait - there is little else to be said!

But i'll try - crisp image of the woman with great colours and detail throughout. Maybe a slight shame her eyes are not clearer, but you can't have everything - a wonderful picture and note.

Well done indeed.

dougie (2920) 2006-10-07 6:53

Hi,
Great photograph and subject. Worlds apart from here (and anywhere else probably) except maybe for the tartanish patterned garment. I love pictures that educate as well as be pleasing to the eye. This is a gem. Thanks.
Dougie.

besnard (30868) 2006-10-07 6:55

Bonjour Attila
Superbe portrait de cette femme qui nous montre une des coutumes de ce pays.
C'est impressionnant et on a mal pour cette femme.
Merci pour le partage et bon week-end.
Nicole

riclopes (33043) 2006-10-07 7:07

Olá Attila, fascinating note and impressive portrait of this woman. Of course that the reason of the assault of the tourists is evident, but I also don't feel confortable in visiting such places as if they were circus...
I'm glad that you managed to capture this. Your images from Africa are fantastic for my eyes!
Friendly regards,
Ricardo

rewshearer (682) 2006-10-07 7:29

Fantastic shot Attila
Not just the lip plate, but the patterened scars on her arms, the tight ties around her arms too - we may think it is a lot to endure in the name of beauty, but women in the "civilized" west do so much more, from waxing through Botox to plastic surgery, but beauty remains every bit as cultural and subjective.
Fantastic metering and light (the great thing about photographing dark skin in strong sunlight - you don't get burnout!)
Great work
Rew

imrek (4) 2006-10-07 7:34

HI Attila,
OMG!!! An impressive portrait of this mursi woman...what a mouth...!!! Thanks for good note!
Have a nice WE!
imre

xuaxo (5765) 2006-10-07 7:38

Impressive ideed. And interesting note too.
F

ndb1958 (9248) 2006-10-07 7:39

Wow Attila! I've never seen such a big plate. I'm faszinated and impressed! A great capture. Thanks for sharing. Nino

efigesta (12181) 2006-10-07 7:40

Hi my friend
great portrait here, the pov ans the image is so nice
regards
manuel

woodyman (222) 2006-10-07 8:43

Brilliant - reminds me that there are so many things in this world that can still amaze and couldn't be imagined and this is a great place to discover them. It looks a threatening expression - you have captured very well
Cheers
Ian

tinamunk3 (6382) 2006-10-07 9:24

Hi Attila,

A very interesting shot of this woman. SO many great details on her body. There has been a few uploads here on TE lately and I keep wondering how these people eat...I guess they have to remove the plate.... :O) Do you know?

:) Tina

prezntime (3945) 2006-10-07 10:33

Greetings Attila.
It is quite interesting to see such a distended lip. You have framed the shot very well and controlled what probably was incredibly bright light, nicely. Also the DOF is just right to project her out of the photo, yet give us some detail about where she lives.
Very well done, and nice to see you post again after a little while.

Chris.

brevbrev14 (372) 2006-10-07 12:48

CIao Attila, davvero una bella foto-documento di questa donna dell' Etiopia!una bella luce e ottima inquadratura e composizione per questo ritratto a mezzo busto!!

CIAO!

Valeria

TeresaT (10733) 2006-10-07 13:38

Hello Attila,
Excellent portrait of this Mursi Woman.
I must confess that I've never heard about this people, but that's what TE is so Fascinating. We learn much about the world.
And your contribute is very useful.
Perfect details, nice colours and good use of the hard light.
Regards
Teresa

paura (38742) 2006-10-07 14:39

Incredable portrait, Attila. Fantastic distended lip! The note also is very nice.

Regards, friend.

Paulo

gilou530 (35422) 2006-10-07 14:52

salut attila
tu fais fort avec cette photo, pas ordinaire de voir de tel portrait, il me fait penser au chef indien d'amazonie, super netteté, je me pose plein de question qu'il ne serai bon de donner ici...
amitiés et bon WE
gilbert

albertopiubello (2591) 2006-10-07 18:08

Ciao Attila,
una foto interessantissima! Non conoscevo l'esistenza di questa tribú in Etiopia, mi sembrava di aver letto di usanze simili nel sud Sudan.
Dal punto di vista tecnico poi la foto è al top: mi piace molto la luce.
Alberto

gypsygirl58 (1329) 2006-10-07 20:09

Hi Attila,
Great shot and great notes! I have heard of the Mursi before but it is interesting to see this. Great to see the way different cultures live. TFS :-)
Cheers Tina

AiresSantos (42440) 2006-10-07 20:19

Hi Attila,
Magnificent note for this impressive portrait.
Perfect details, gorgeous colours and good very well managed.
My best wishes,
Aires

siolaw (25794) 2006-10-08 1:18

Hi Atilla,
A great portrait of this lady with excellent colors and sharpness, and interesting subject of the picture showing some different ways of life..
Purest TE Photo
TFS
Laurent

turkamerikali (4772) 2006-10-08 1:22

Hello Attila,
Excellent African Women portrait my friend.
I like your pov,dof,colors,skin tone,note,frame,her pose,focus and sharpness Excellent.Bravo!TFS:)
Have a Great Sunday,
Tolga

tjanze (5674) 2006-10-08 2:56

Hi Attila!
Very sharp,very unusual portrait.I must say,never see something like this before.
Phantastic photo.Bravo!

chrisnet (20376) 2006-10-08 4:00

Hi Attila,
Thanks for this intereting photo and your note.It's very impressive the mouth of this woman!Well seen and captured.
Regards
Christian

axiotea (16171) 2006-10-08 4:31

Hi Attila,
I am fascinated by the beauty of the tribal woman (you did well to go further than the tourists do) with her ornaments and of your composition by the lights, colors, sharpness and the beautiful BG. Your note is very informative too.
All the best,
Marilyn

rbcy1974 (20744) 2006-10-08 5:44

Hello Attila
You are so lucky; We got rain even though it wasnt the rainy season, and we got the standard tourist aggresive treatment.
I wish I had gone to a more prisitne village.
How far did you have to drive to get to this village. Was it over a ridge?
Regards
Daniel

Vato_Law (11682) 2006-10-08 6:17

Hello Attila,
Besides from the quality of your pportrait that is undoubtable, what makes this photo special is your note, and I really appreciate that you were at the disposal to pay more to avoid the invasion of tourists.
As Eric says let's hope that TE archives ar kept for many years because this photo and your note are surely a nice piece of anthropological research.
Cheers.
Paulo

sufi (9568) 2006-10-08 7:47

Merhaba Attila, my friend...
Oh my God!!!... It's a astonishing and incredible picture... Wow... Wonderful point of view and perfect portrait photograph... The colors, the details and the clarity are perfecr, as usual... Also thank you for your detailed note... Perfect...
TFS...
Stay well..
Salim.

jjcordier (24948) 2006-10-08 7:49

Impressionnant et splendide portrait de cette femme Mursi
Amicalement
JJ

teutza (10564) 2006-10-08 7:50

wow!!ok...this is a very wierd image......brrr...a little terrifing...but...intersting..
teo

Photo65Net (43096) 2006-10-08 14:35

Hi,
Very beautiful capture of this beautiful Mursi.
I like very much your wonderful note too.
Great.
JB.

maki (0) 2006-10-08 15:55

Hi Attila,
I saw many women like this one on photographs earlier and I must admit that it's a stroooong expression in their faces. Your picture is not any exeption, very strong communication between our different cultures.
Technically this is great as Your other pictures, but I can't think about perspective when I'm looking on her face. Strong image,
regards,
maki

lestans (15474) 2006-10-08 17:17

Ciao Attila!

è una foto spaventosa! terrificante! chissà quali sofferenze per adattarsi a portare quella roba in bocca!
..... però poi magari lei dice ... poverette quelle donne occidentali costrette a mettere il reggiseno.

Molto interessante e bravo e anche fortunato ad arrivare in questo posto e a fare il ritratto a questa signora.

Certo che è una delle più "forti", sonvolgenti foto fra quelle comparse in TE

Livia

Mistral (13694) 2006-10-08 17:28

Ciao Attila,
complimenti per la magnifica immagine e nota informativa.
Se penso che ero li e il maltempo mi ha impedito di raggiungerli...
La tua galleria è davvero bellissima!
Buona settimana.
Luca

maximage (13490) 2006-10-08 18:03

Bonjour Attila,
Image complètement fascinante et incroyable!!
Tu nous fais découvrir des images de coutumes assez folles!
Note super intéressante.
Amitiés.
max

parbo (11000) 2006-10-08 20:54

Hi Attila,

Your detailed and very informative notes are valuable at least Mursi Lady’s beauty. An unusual, extraordinary portrait. I’m expecting your next submit of lady’s photo without plate. Congratulations.

Best Regards,

Parbo

Giorgio (8730) 2006-10-09 2:34

- Very impressive portrait! To say what! as usual, it's very successful, excellent colors, light and sharpen, well done!
giorgio

fjufju (335) 2006-10-09 2:38

Hello Atilla,
the sign of beauty indeed:)
Interesting note.
regards,
Jan

Graal (58267) 2006-10-09 2:50

Jó napot Attila,
amazing view, unusual portrait, good captured. Interesting note. Good job.
Gr., Aleksander

Paolo (40731) 2006-10-09 4:04

Ciao Attila, che dire ...in effetti è bellissima....la foto....ottimo reportage tra uno dei posti più dimenticati da dio, con un ottimo ritratto di questa popolazione antica e alquanto "strana" come usanze e un'ottima nota.

li avevo visti parecchie volte in 100 documentari differenti, e sinceramente, pur rispettando le culture differenti, ho sempre trovato alquanto inutili questi tipi di modifiche fisiche apportare al corpo umano, e ho sempre notato come quelle più forti, dure e radicali siano sempre riservate alle donne, come quella della tua foto.
in Cameroon vengono atrofizzati i seni, nel mondo musulmano vengono infibulate, in alcune zone dell'Africa vengono deturpati i visi (come in questo caso)...
insomma, capisco che sono usi e costumi vechi di millenni e millenni...ma non li riesco proprio non a comprendere ma a condividere.
non riesco a guardarli e pensare "ma che belle usanze antiche!"
mi viene subito da pensare che alcuni millenni di evoluzione umana, di pari diritti, di lotte per l'uguglianza sociale abbiano portato perlomeno ad alcuni buoni risultati nel nostro mondo.

buona giornata, ciao

HOBO (5244) 2006-10-09 6:05

Servus Attila,
thanks for presenting a look beyond the 'horizon'; an area where most of us never have a chance to visit.
An inpressive view on this Mursi woman.
Thanks for the note
Szia
Knut

PixelTerror (86358) 2006-10-09 6:50

HI Attila,
From an european point of view I wouldn't think I find ot that much attractive but we have to accept there are in the world many diverging opinions about woman's beauty, I wonder what they would say about our piercings... From a photo point of view it's a nice view where the close focus created limited background blur, enough to make the subject stand out and the photo luminous, and last but not least there's great LATW value here.
Have a nice day,
JEan-Yves

t0mmm1 (5434) 2006-10-09 16:27

Ciao Attila,
un'altra foto da National Geographic... bello il ritratto della signora / signorina, bello vedere le usanze dell'altra gente anche se un po forte... E poi, chi sa cosa direbbero loro di noi, con le nostre bombe atomiche e cagade di ogni genere (scusa il linguaggio, ma non trovavo la parola piu' giusta di questa ;)))
Ciao e stammi bene,
Tomi

izmirli (3223) 2006-10-09 17:32

merhaba my friend attila
beautiful interesting picture.beautiful composition and note.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

jhm (82879) 2006-10-10 7:50

Hi Attila,

Fantastic note and a fascinating portrait, more words are not necessary for the say this is superb! A very enjoyable photo. Thanks for sharing.

Have a nice day,
John

Cricri (43304) 2006-10-10 7:54

Bonjour Attila,
Trés surprenant la coutume de ce village, je supôse qu'elle doit l'enlever pour boire, manger..?
note trés intéressante pour accompagnée cette incroyable photo, merçi de nous montrer ses villages d'Afrique
bonne journée
amitiés
cricri

leiju (1683) 2006-10-10 12:03

There is no other word for this than Perfect!
Everything one would ever want from this kind of picture is here! The context, the sharp details, the look, the nature, the fellow inhabitant, the clothing, everything. I am simply amazed and blown away.
Congrats! And Thanks for sharing your perfect eye! ;D
Julia

sergio1 (12150) 2006-10-11 5:48

Hi Attila

Excellent portrait to this woman, beautiful and exotic shot. Perfecto sharp and depht.
Good work
Sergio

zokakelt (1153) 2006-10-11 6:58

Hi Attila,
Fantastic portrait. Great details and note.
Bravo
Zoran

ahmetgedikli (21968) 2006-10-11 21:40

Hi Attila,
Beautiful shot, an incredable portrait! Excellent colors, sharpness and good notes.
Well done.
Ahmet

berek (28937) 2006-10-11 22:51

Hi Attila,
very interesting sign for beauty my friend. very nice traditional portrait. good colors and well framed. thanks for picture note. friendly regards.
Burak
MOE :)))

ramesh_lalwani (3209) 2006-10-11 23:55

H Attila
Great informative note .The must be in pain wearing this plate which has cause her deformed lips..Very nice portrait
Ramesh

papagolf21 (56483) 2006-10-12 3:59

Bonjour, mon ami Attila,
Une photographie qui ne peut laisser indifférent ! Ici, nous sommes dans une peuplade qui a conservé ses coutumes !
Une photo reportage exceptionnelle !
Amitiés.
Philippe

Fis2 (46057) 2006-10-12 6:51

Witaj Attila!
Very interesting photo! Good frame ana colors. I like the composition. Congratulations!
Regards
Krzysztof

Wanda1 (11003) 2006-10-12 14:03

Hi Attila,
An excellent portrait, very interesting and well photographed. I have learned something new. TFS.
Regards
Wanda

CRATEOS (7274) 2006-10-12 15:43

one new trip to the world..sow to us every time..one exeptional ..one more my frend..a great one..a perfect one..a beaute one..TFS for this..RGRDS Nikiforos

Scharan (13955) 2006-10-12 23:04

Olá Attila
Uma foto inusitada, imagem impressionante pelos detalhes que nos mostram a força dos costumes de um povo. Ótima qualidade, cores excelentes, meus parabéns!
Grande abraço,
Vera.

vincz (19043) 2006-10-13 4:03

Oooppss... It is definitely fascinating. Thnaks for the very intersting note, I discovered something I had no idea about. very good picture besides being a great anthropologic document.

osse (2806) 2006-10-14 20:51

Hi Attila
Great shot. Great colours, sharpnes, details, light, DOF and POV. Also intresting motiv.
Well done my friend

osse

Angshu (33877) 2006-10-16 23:32

Hi Attila
Great note & a great portrait shot. Your photographs really show us the world Attila! Practices around the world are so diverse & so unique...I can only say thanks for sharing. Techninal specs of this one as good as any of your shots
Regards
Angshu

cunejo200 (7193) 2006-10-18 14:49

Hi Attila,
Thanks for going the distance in order to photograph this Mursi woman. Amazing composition with good colors and sharpness. Best regards. Danilo

sothy81 (8536) 2006-10-24 21:13

Interesting and educational photo. I am sure it is what people on TE can learn from this group of people...how they look like and why they did that. A lot of photographers who commented here said that they never saw this kind of tribe before, so this picture really help us to learn more. Wonderful. Sothy

jaja1970 (1286) 2006-11-02 12:50

Hi Attila,
Very good shot.
I can not say but a word: WONDERFUL LADY!
How far is the habit and believes among human kin in the world!
TFS and also for your good comments.

Jay.

designsoul (21394) 2006-11-12 17:33

Hello Attila!
Hirtelen ijeszto volt a "civilizalt" szemeimnek, de nagyon hamar at tudtam valtani az Ethiopiai szepseg szimboluma iranyaba; ilyet meg sosem lattam, csak nehany antropologiai rezkarcon a mult szazadban, igy a premier plane igen erosen hatott ram. Nagyon erdekes, es persze egyedulallo ez a kep, es nem csodalom, hogy ennyi velemeny futott be ra. Jo kep, gyonyoru szinekkel, melyseggel.
Szia,
sasa
ps majd visszajovok mosolyogni ;-)

AmiBe (6042) 2006-11-13 16:00

Hi Attila,
very impressive, I am astonished to see how the lips can be distended.
I think it's not really easy to eat with such a plate. :)
Good note, good ethno shot.
rgs

siamakjafari (1345) 2006-11-14 1:43 [Comment]

Show Comment

Traveller (665) 2006-11-15 2:43 [Comment]

Show Comment

devimeuxbe (56012) 2007-01-07 11:17

Hi attila
This is an incredible report. Thanks to share with us.
Your note is really instructive and the idea you give about the tourism is the reality.
Congratulations
Bertrand

MichaelTrezzi (3170) 2007-01-11 15:52

Hi Attila, fascinating picture and note. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Michael

faubry (32367) 2007-01-25 17:23

hello Atilla first time i see this people.. very amazing and impressive image, i hope this woman is nt too sad and sick.. thanks for your note
soon
francine

MarieAnge (524) 2007-02-04 3:33

Hello Attila,

Very impressive and... disturbing. Your picture is witness, but I hope these women don't suffer from this "ornament". Who could know ?...

Thanks anyway for showing it to us. I had never seen something like that. And thanks for your note.

Hellas (5139) 2007-02-21 7:44

Hi Attila,
thank you very much for sharing your pic with us and be sure that we are amazed.

Best Regards
Athanasios.

Bogdan011 (162) 2007-02-24 10:45

Szia Attila,

I was looking at the other photo without a disc and I was writing a critique there but then I opened this one which left me speechless. This is such a great documentary photo. It shows a world so distant from ours, like it's another planet. People in Europe would probably get an infection and die after only one day with disc in their mouth but these women wear it bravely for whole of their life. It's really amazing sight that it looks surreal.

Cheers,
Bogdan

prasadpaul (291) 2007-05-28 22:39

superb!! the frame and the note........Regards from India

edytungkal (4519) 2007-06-19 22:46

What a culture from Ethiopia...
It's fantastic picture Attila, not only the amazing plate on her mounth, over all your picture is great. Colours and sharpness are very well. tfs

greetings from jkt
daniel

nisko (2461) 2007-12-17 10:01

hi attila,
thats really so interesting tradition for those people!congratulation for the presentation and the informative note!
kind regards
thodoris

pattyis (1313) 2008-02-03 6:46

Ciao Attila
...sono un po' sconvolta...questa donna...lo scambio di idee tra te e Paolo...
la foto è bellissima
i contenuti sono inquietanti
Ti dico solo che non approvo nessun tipo di "alterazione"... e questa donna mi fa una grande tenerezza...

Grazie per aver condiviso questa foto

Patrizia

zumoduvas (1974) 2008-02-22 7:30

Hello Attila.

Excellent image, nice composition and colors.
Very good details.

Regards.
jose Luis.

akg (149) 2009-05-19 20:35

Hello Attila,
this is amazing! I learned a lot from your note.
Thank you so much.
abhijit.

vmukherjee (395) 2009-07-01 10:20

Great shot! Really a terrific image, and excellent note to go with it too.

shami (24) 2009-08-22 0:01 [Comment]

Show Comment

francio64 (11348) 2009-10-13 3:55

Ciao Attila,
sembra incredibile quello che sto appena vedendo.
Dentro quella bocca potrebbe entrarci la testa di un uomo :))

Eccellente il contrasto tra i vari elementi e quello della pelle scura con il terreno chiaro.

Bel colpo! TFS!
Francesco

Photo Information

Copyright: Attila Szili (atus) (15476)
Genre: Gente
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-02-09
Categories: Vida cotidiana
Camera: Nikon D70, Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED DX, Hoya Super HMC PRO1 67mm Sky
Exposición: f/8, 1/250 segundos
More Photo Info: view
Versión de la foto: Versión original
Tema(s): More favorites, Ethnic groups of the world [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-10-07 6:30
Favoritos: 4 [Ver]