Ethiopia lives

Before I left CAFOD in 2004, I put forward a proposal with a colleague to fund a photo blog produced by Ethiopians to talk about their lives. The occasion was the 20th anniversary since Live Aid.

In 1985, most of the images of Ethiopia were of famine and desperation. Sadly it is still the typical image represented of Africa today. The images we see on the news may show the need but they turn its people into mere objects of pity rather than dignified humans.

The truth that Ethiopians are just like us who joke with their friends, spend time making good food for their family, use any excuse to have a good party is completely lost.

We wanted in the blog to take the power of imagery and representation out of the international media and let Ethiopians tell their own stories. The result is www.ethiopialives.net. It’s a fabulous site: make sure you visit it and leave a comment.