Note: The top image in this post is clickable and will take you to experience audio of these two performing Maasai singing (which is more like a chant). Must be heard…I’d never heard anything like it before.
This week in Kenya, a little dream of mine came true to photograph people from the Maasai tribe. The Maasai people live in Kenya and Tanzania. There are approximately half a million Maasai, however this site claims that they don’t like the census system and so they miscount their numbers meaning we may not actually know how many people there are in this group.
Above, 30 year old Noah. Below, his uncle, Manuel who is 25. Both men claim to never having a photo taken of them before.
The Maasai are well known for their diet of raw meat and blood, however they are increasingly embracing foods such as maize, potatoes, cabbage due to waning livestock numbers. They do still drink blood on special occasions.
They are also known for their body modification traditions such as stretching of the earlobes and scarification using knives. Above, Noah shows me the scars he received at the age of 12. He was taken with my tattoos and thought I had done them myself with a knife.
It was so wonderful to connect with these men. They invited me to Tanzania to meet their families so who knows perhaps there will be more in the future!
To hear audio of Noah and Manuel chanting click here.
