Country – Kenya
Culture – Pokot
Year – 2009
John Kenny
Malasso
£650.00 – £3,500.00
I came across the intense stare of this Pokot lady at a Friday market on a mountain summit in northern Kenya; it was the same market where I photographed a Samburu goat herder wrapped in blankets. The Pokot and Samburu are engaged in a constant battle over grazing rights, the two groups tend not to mix even at the market. This lady and the women with her were watched carefully by armed Pokot warriors as they walked amongst the market’s wooden stalls.
The journey to the market involves walking many kilometres across the valley floor and then a 1000m ascent to the mountain pass. When she left the market she carried no purchases with her an example of the exertions and huge distances that people in the north endure in order to trade and buy their basic necessities.
John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His subjects are lit with natural light and wear their day to day attire.
The C-type prints are mounted with an acrylic face mount giving them a 3-dimensional appearance and a contemporary look.
