Webinar Interview with Photographer Jane Baldwin
I've always been intrigued by the way places change over time. This is one component that we are including in our new lesson plans. We will be releasing the first batch in the coming weeks. How are the people and places featured in our short documentary films and photo essays experiencing change and what are the factors that precipitate that change?
We will be exploring this topic with photographer Jane Baldwin in our next community storyteller conversation event this Thursday, May 21th at 11am/PST. Her photo essay "Kara Women Speak" documents the lives of the Kara tribe living in the Omo River Valley, located in southwestern Ethiopia. The Omo River is the main vein of the Omo River watershed and extends more than 400 miles to feed 90 percent of Lake Turkana's water, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kenya. Over the past decade, Jane traveled to this region photographing and recording stories from the women of Indigenous communities.
Her work is an intimate portrayal of the women who have lived for centuries unaffected by colonialism or modernity. She writes, “It’s my hope this photo essay will encourage interest in the issues facing the people of Lake Turkana and Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley. The global drive for dwindling natural resources, and destruction of healthy ecosystems, of water, soil, and air will potentially affect us all.”
A former member of the board of directors of the non-profit International Rivers, Jane will share stories and photographs from her recent trips to the Omo River Valley, a place that has experienced drastic changes due to a massive hydroelectric dam and land grabs.
Jane will also share some photography tips for those students who are entering our student photography contest. Please do bring your questions to the conversation or send them to us in advance. If you can't join us, register and we'll send you the recording. Sign language interpreters will be available during the live event.
I hope you can join us!
All the best,
Cleary Vaughan-Lee
Executive Director
Global Oneness Project
Photo by Jane Baldwin
Discussion with photographer Jane Baldwin