Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa

I owned a hard copy of this loverly book when it was first published in the US, and somehow got lost in my most recent move. This book was originally published in France in 2007 and the photography, by Hans Silverstein, is beautiful and more realistic and less posed than more recent work by other photographers. While this area, the lower valley of the Omo River, bordering Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan was one of the wildest and remote places remaining in Africa, that has changed rapidly in the past decade, due to the political unrest and local wars uprooting everything and everyone. Tribes like this are now being manipulated by tourist companies, being promised payment if they paint themselves and pose for tourists. Payment doesn’t always happen however, which just adds to unrest. Even though this is a paperback copy, the color is crisp and I like the matte finish of the photos. For collectors of African culture, this is a wonderful book to own and enjoy.

This is not your typical coffee table book full of big bright exotic photographs. It is big, it is bright, and it is exotic but the images of the young people of the Omo Valley are incredibly unique visions of mankind and nature. These young people paint their faces and bodies with natural pigments derived from the soils and clay of the area. Thus you see reds, yellows, white, brown, and grey. The children devise creative head adornment from fruit, seeds, leaves, branches, seedpods, and even animal skins and horns. The people are beautiful in their innocent nakedness. The use of flowers and leaves and twigs as bodily decoration occurs primarily around the head and as a head covering or decoration, much like a crown of leaves. Many cultures do this including the ancient Greeks or Hawaiian islanders. The reddish black skin of the people acts as a contrast to the off-white, grey, and yellow ochre body paints. The application of the pigments is often roughly drawn with a natural relaxed flair. There is rarely a painted face with the precision of a circus clown. Of course these young people don't go around looking like this every day since they have lives to live tending gardens and livestock. But neither do the images feel false. If someone came to the USA and took pictures of people going to midnight mass on Christmas eve, would we say the pictures were atypical of daily life in America, probably we would. But would we say the images were not part of the American experience and reality, probably not. These images give the same impression. These are young people dressing up with leaves and flowers and body paint, something they don't do every day but something that is indeed part of their culture. This makes the book fascinating and one of the strongest books of photography of Africans that I have ever seen. It is highly recommended.

Book arrived in pristine condition, even better than I expected.

I came across this book at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and couldn't get it out of my mind. The myriad ways these natives used natural materials of plants, seed pods, colored mud, lone, and form to fashion stunningly beautiful "single day" styles would have been at home on the most high-concept fashion runway. The photos are lovingly presented and the people they depict are relaxed and totally unselfconscious. So many reasons to like this book: fashion, culture, creativity, art.

Simply the most beautiful and fascinating images of any "coffee table" book I have ever purchased.....the people in the images look out at you with dignity, style and grace. It's hard not to tire of looking at this book as each time you page through you find something new. The photography is amazing and very artful. As an artist myself, the colour and arrangements of clothing are truly like art pieces and sculpture. It's a wonderful book, simply gorgeous. Would interest you if you are perhaps an artist, a photographer, interested in African life or are interested in fashion.....it covers all grounds.

I saw one in hard copy and ordered this. i returned it because it is a paperback. The paperback kind is less expensive but the photos are outstanding. If you did not want this for a coffee table book, I would say get this wonderful book full of fascinating images

This is an amazing book. Beautiful pictures of indigenous African people. The photos are respectful, evocative, inspirational. Highly recommend. I love this book.

I hoped for better quality paper in the book. The images are lovely. I saw them on pinterest first, but the quality & feel of the book is not wonderful.

文章は最初の4ページだけ。 後は写真、写真、写真、 圧倒的に力強く、美しい写真の数々が、最後のページまでたっぷり。 ものすごく奇抜な装いなのに、みんな最初からそんな姿だったみたいに自然で、 植物や果物も、そう配置されるのが当然のように馴染んでいる。 被写体の殆どは、小さな子どもや10代の若者たち。 親子や兄弟と思しきペアルックの人たちもいる。 メイキング風景も見てみたい。 彼らの中にも、流行とかあるのかなあ。。

What a wonderful book about wonderful, adorable folk of Ethiopia 🇪🇹

Ein wundervolles Buch mit hingebungsvollen Fotos aus einer entschwindenden Kultur. Diese Natürlichkeit ließ mich sehr bewegt zurück. Stolze einzigartige Menschen zeigen sich mit den Gaben der Natur.

Non ho idea, l'ho preso per la mia ex ma non ho mai capito a cosa le servisse, ci sono belle foto su usi e costumi di altre culture ma nient'altro

Great pics, awesome style. Loved. It's a little light on text and contextualization, but that's okay. I would like it to have more written details.