Organization / PublicationAgence Vu for El Pais Semanal
CategoryPortraits stories
Prize3rd prize
Date00-05-2004
CountryEthiopia
Place
CaptionThe Suri are a semi-nomadic people who live in a mountainous region of Ethiopia, near the Sudan border. The men generally go naked, and both sexes shave their heads -sometimes leaving patterned strips of hair- and decorate their bodies. The Suri cover their skin with chalk and make designs with their fingernails, or paint on their bodies using sticks and colored vegetable pigments. The body art is a means of aesthetic expression, but is also important in attracting the opposite sex and intimidating opponents.