Up to a year before his circumcision, a Samburu boy will style his hair in a distinctive pudding bowl shape and often rub charcoal and fat into it
Msai warriors draw water from a deep well. The depth of wells is measured by the number of men required to bring water to the cattle troughs at the top of them
A Msai warrior, his face and body decorated with red ochre and clay, wears an ostrich feather headdress. This singular adornment was once worn by warriors going into battle
A Msai warrior with his long braids and body coated with red ochre mixed with animal fat. He has put ochre dust round his eyes to enhance his appearance ready for a dance
Detail of a Msai warriors ear ornaments and other beaded or metal adornments. The Msai practice of piercing ears in adolescence and gradually elongating the lobes is gradually dying out
Nyangatom men their faces and bodies with stylised patterns using natural pigments obtained from chalk, ochre and crushed rock prior to a dance
The men hold hands forming a circle within which the women dance in the Karo village of Duss. A small Omotic tribe related to the Hamar
Men and women dance together in the Karo village of Duss. A small Omotic tribe related to the Hamar, the Karo live along the banks of the Omo River in southwestern Ethiopia
A Mursi woman wearing a large clay lip plate. Shortly before marriage, a girls lower lip will be pierced and progressively stretched over a year or so
A Karo man with braided hair plays a traditional stringed instrument beside the Omo River near Duss. Young men settle disputes by fighting with hippo hide whips
A Himba woman in traditional attire. Her body gleams from a mixture of red ochre, butterfat and herbs. Her long hair is styled in the traditional Himba way
Almost every Himba woman wears anklets. They comprise strands of homemade metal beads threaded onto leather. Women cover their bodies in red ochre mixed with butterfat
A Pokomo drummer from the Tana River district of Kenya
A Msai warrior blows a trumpet fashioned from the horn of a Greater Kudu. The strap is decorated with cowrie shells. Kudu-horn trumpets are only sounded to call men to arms or on ceremonial occasions
A back view of a Msai warrior resplendent with long ochred braids tied in a pigtail. This singular hairstyle sets him apart from other members of his society
A young Samburu man leads a donkey carrying the basic structure of a temporary home. The curved sticks will be tied together in a dome and covered with hides
A woman of the Mursi tribe. Once married Mursi women pierce their lower lip and stretch it by inserting increasingly large plugs until they can wear a clay lip plate
An elder of the Karo tribe rests with his head on his wooden head-rest which protects his elaborate clay hairdo. Every man carries a headrest which doubles as a stool
Two Mursi men with singular hairstyles play a game of bau as a young boy watches them. Most men possess rifles to protect their families from hostile neighbours
