'Facing Uncertainty - Portraits from Africa' - Final weekend - Talk this Saturday October 1st @ 2pm 'Facing Uncertainty - Portraits from Africa' - Final weekend - Talk this Saturday October 1st @ 2pm

'Facing Uncertainty - Portraits from Africa' - Final weekend - Talk this Saturday October 1st @ 2pm

04/09/11 Shows
by John Kenny

Printed and mounted in collaboration with Spectrum Photographic, Brighton www.spectrumphoto.co.uk

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Charity VIP Private View:    Tuesday 20th September    6 - 9pm
Late opening:                       Thursday 22nd September  6 - 8pm
Exhibition continues:          Wednesday 21st September – Sunday 2nd October 2011    12 - 6pm   (closed Mondays)
Gallery address:                  3 Bedfordbury gallery, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4BP
Pictures from the show:    See here

About 'Facing Uncertainty - Portaits from Africa' (entry to show is free):

The Samburu, Turkana and Rendille live in the northern lowlands of Kenya.  It is a region of harsh scrub, sweltering heat and dust-laden winds, where traditional societies survive by managing large herds of cattle, goats and camels.

Each ethnic group has, over many centuries, mastered this challenging environment by relying on the certainties of tribal tradition and a profound understanding of the rainfall and pasture patterns that provide a structure to life. Within this structure they live a modest existence, without the material wealth of the western world but infinitely richer in other ways.  

Increasingly these certainties are becoming less so.  The climate appears to be changing: ‘rainy seasons’ frequently provide no rain, and if rain does appear it is often in events too violent to be harnessed. Against such a backdrop, the knowledge passed from generation to generation; of where, when and how to move people and animals, ceases to act as a compass for survival. This, together with the escalation of armed conflict between tribal groups, poses a very serious threat to the long term viability of such communities.

John Kenny travelled to this region to photograph these cultures.  He also documented the views one of these communities, the Samburu, in an attempt to understand how the recent climatic uncertainties have affected their way of existence, and how this is shaping their hopes  for the future.  

The exquisite detail of John’s portraits highlight both the influence of the modern world and the pride inherent in traditional cultures.  They are stark reminders of how climate change is threatening to have a direct impact on our global cultural diversity, jeopardizing centuries-old ways of life that could disappear in some areas within a few generations.

John has been travelling to some of the most remote corners of Africa to photograph the beauty and diversity of peoples from Kenya, the Omo valley of Ethiopia, the Kalahari of Namibia and the sub-Saharan Sahel of western Africa since 2006. For more information contact:

john@john-kenny.com     or tel  +44 7799 477301
info@capitlalculture.eu or tel  +44 20 3268 2184



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