Kickstarter

Hi, thank you for visiting my Kickstarter page. My name is Daniel Sullivan, and I am trying to self-publish my second photography book, Tribes of the Omo River. I am a native of New Orleans, and now live in Maui with my wife and two children.

In October 2010, I traveled  with a Kara tribesman by boat down Ethiopia's Omo River to document some of the most isolated tribes on our planet. Together we camped along the banks of the Omo River. During the day we traveled by boat and hiked up into the jungles finding the tribes. The photographs I took on this expedition were some the most beautiful images I've ever taken. 

This journey marked the beginning of a project that I hope to share with the global community.  My book will create, through photographs and song, an experience that brings the reader closer to the Omo Valley before it undergoes one of the greatest ecocides of our time. In late 2011 the Ethiopian government will be constructing a massive dam along the Omo River, cutting the tribes off from their only source of water. The book will include a 36 minute audio cd with recordings of the tribes' beautiful songs and stories.

Background

The Omo Valley is a crossroads for an incredible diversity of tribes ranging from the Kara with their beautifully clay painted bodies to the Mursi who stretch the ears and lips with huge clay plates. They have an amazing sense for natural primitive fashion, decorating their bodies with flowers, feathers, animal bones and paints.

Mursi Girl                                                                                       Daniel Sullivan

Life in the Omo Valley has changed little since the beginning of time. The tribes live in isolation without connection to or reliance upon the outside world. There is no plastic, no televisions or cell phones. In fact, most of tribes don't even know about the world outside of the Omo Valley.

The Omo tribes live a simple life by a combination of hunting and gathering, growing sogurm along the banks of the river and raising cattle. Most of the tribes I photographed had never seen a camera or their image.

Nyangatom Elder                                                                            Daniel Sullivan

For the people, the Omo River is the source of all life, both in their belief systems and in their daily life.

Kara boy fishing                                                                           Daniel Sullivan

The Importance of Sharing their Story

In 2011, the Ethiopian government will be completing the Gibe III dam on the Omo River, which will cut the water off from these tribes. Most of the people in the Omo Valley still don’t know about the dam. More than 500,000 people and countless animals will have no access to their only source of water.

The tribes of the Omo River are some of the last untouched people. I believe it is important to tell their story, but I need your help to do this.

Mother and Daughter Nyangatom Tribe                                           Daniel Sullivan

The kara                                                                                  Daniel Sullivan

The Book

Tribes of the Omo River will be a beautifully produced hard cover, coffee table book with full color photographs documenting four tribes, the Kara, the Nyangatom, the Hamer and the Mursi. Inside the book are some of the first translations of the tribes' songs, which are the oral traditions passed down from generation to generation. The book will also include excerpts from my journals.

Included with every book will be a cd with recordings from the tribes' songs mixed with the natural sounds of the jungle. This unique combination of images and sound will be an experience that brings the reader closer to the beauty of the Omo Valley.

I am trying to raise $5,000 to pay for the first 500 copies of the book, with the audio cd, which I will be independently printing and producing myself. The book is already laid out and the cd is mastered. I now just need your help to self publish it. Please help me tell their story, before the dam is finished