I am so excited to be doing a weekly photographic series explaining the stories behind some of my favorite images. Sometimes they will be wedding photographs, sometimes they will be documentary, and sometimes editorials. This photograph is from my first trip to Ethiopia, where I was working as a photojournalist documenting a relief project in a small region of South Central Ethiopia. The following is one of my favorite images I've ever taken because of the story behind it, the emotions I encountered when taking the picture, and the composition and exposure.

 

It had been a hard two weeks. It had been a rewarding two weeks. Two weeks full of countless emotions and debilitating sickness of which I hadn't yet encountered the worst of. During my first visit to Ethiopia, I encountered starvation head on. Never before in my life had malnourishment been so personal, so real, so unavoidable. While I lost 20 pounds of the course of my trip and illness, the people of Ethiopia were standing right beside me losing their children, their fathers, their mothers. I try to realize if I am sick because of illness or because of the injustice of a world that justifies the unequal distribution of our food supply.

 

Taking my last malaria pill I grab my bottled water sealed so carefully underneath a Deet soaked mosquito net and push the pill down with the luxury of purified water. I swing my Tenba Photojournalist bag around my shoulders with one camera on each side dangling around my waist. Taking one last look around my room, I say goodbye to my temporary shelter in the Rift Valley and board our white and green tour bus driven by our guide “Phish.” Oddly enough, I would find out 3 years later that Phish became an Ethiopian model, married an American woman, and now resides in Tennessee. Tonight we head to say our goodbyes to Genet Church and the people of Zwai who have become like family. I am unsure what to expect and grow uneasy. I love this place. I love these people. I try to push my emotions behind me which are clouding my vision and thoughts as I try to stay objective as a journalist.

We arrive at dusk to a heroes welcome, many shaken hands, and many hugs. A teenage boy grabs my hand in a show of affection, and I realize I am finally comfortable with their customs of men holding each others hands to show love and friendship. I walk to my seat hand in hand and arm in arm with a new brother. There is a woman preparing a freshly slaughtered goat in the distance...tonight will be a celebration.

A brief spark of generosity ignites logs in an open clearing by the church building. I grab my Canon 1DMKIIN and investigate the scene. A woman has just finished cutting up the goat into small chunks and is preparing them in a WOK type pan over the fire. Goat is a delectable treat in Ethiopia equivalent to many day's wages. Ethiopians know how to show hospitality, and I suddenly begin to feel emotions of gratitude and self-loathing beyond imaginable words or thoughts. I raise my Camera to frame the shot. I see the woman, I see the fire, and I see the sky bidding goodbye to the sun. I don't have much time. There is too much to take in with my Canon 24-70 lens and quickly switch to my Canon 15mm Fisheye to try to frame the beautiful sky and trees surrounding the scene.

Wait, the fire. I want to capture the fire, the woman, the sky...everything. I turn on my 580ex flash and push it 1 1/3 stop to clarify the woman and underexpose the shot by 2 stops on my Camera in a hope to preserve the beauty of the sky. I have to get close for this to work.

Sprawled on the ground like a military soldier, my face feels burned from the fire a mere 2 feet away from me. I compose the picture, frame my shot, and I'm happy. The lady laughs at this sudden focus of attention upon her socially given task of cooking. It occurs to me this is the first time she has been noticed, acknowledged, and shown interest in for such a mundane task. Laughing uncontrollably and a little embarrassed, she does her best to ignore me.

An hour later we dine upon lavished food around a camp fire, singing and dancing with those whose language we do not understand. Yet at the same time, we know beyond doubt we understand one another and are comfortable with that extent of communication. It was in the famine ravaged country of Ethiopia where I truly encountered the most sincere form of generosity – lavishly giving more than you could ever have to express your love for another. It was a lesson learned years ago of which the extent I am still grasping to comprehend.

For more information on the work being done to save lives, visit FCC Ethiopia or visit Stebner Photography a Denver Wedding Photographer