Author traces 5-year African trip

Author and photographer Carol Beckwith traced her five year journey through the Horn of Africa in a two-hour slide show and lecture yesterday. Over 40 students, faculty and community members attended the slide show, which featured photographs from her new book African Ark. Beckwith, who is the artist-in-residence for the Afro-American Studies Program, and photographer Angela Fisher spent five years living with and photographing tribes in Ethiopia, Somalia, North Kenya, and Djibouti. The slides included photographs of Lalibela churches in Djibouti that were carved out of mountains, Falasha Torahs written in Gaise language, and Afar Nomads in the Ethiopian desert. She said some of the pictures took months to collect. For example, she spent two months on an island off the Kenyan coast before she was permitted to take a picture of two girls by their father and brothers. Beckwith added that civil wars in the area made it difficult for her to visit certain regions. She had to wait several years for government permission to visit these areas, she said. Beckwith said that after gaining the trust of the tribes, she was able to photograph and learn more about the tribes' cultures. Beckwith said that she admired the tribes in the Horn for their "desire to live according to their traditional way of life." She said she was impressed by their diversity, culture and traditions. Those who attended the event said that they were impressed by the quality of the photographs and Beckwith's courage in obtaining them. "I'm amazed and fascinated to see a part of the world we know nothing about," said Helen Dickinson, associate dean of the Medical School. "The pictures were fascinating," College sophomore Michael Gordon said. Gordon's Afro-American studies class was asked to attend the lecture by their professor. Ralph Smith, director of the Afro-American Studies Program, called Beckwith "a remarkable artist and photographer," adding that the University was "lucky" to have her speak.

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