The project explores and documents the daily life in one of the remote place in Ethiopia.
Harar city is a Muslim enclave in a predominantly Orthodox country. 368 are the alleys of the “forbidden city “ and its almost five-metre-high walls were erected around the 16th century as a defensive response to the neighbouring Christian Ethiopian Empire. For some, it is the fourth holy city of Islam closed to outsiders/Non Muslims for hundreds of years before it was integrated into Ethiopia in 1887. The french poet Arthur Rimbaud was one of the very few Europeans ever to set foot in the city in 1880 along with the british explorer Sir Richard Burton who entered it some years earlier disguised as arab merchant. But today Muslims and Christians and different ethnic groups (Oromo, Harari, Argobba, Somali and many others) share the same space in peace with a high degree of religious respect. In 2002–03, Harar received indeed the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize for urban harmony. In a day where religious and ethnical violence is so loud, Harar is a place and a story of peace and hope.
This is my second travel to Ethiopia since 2008 and I went back, this time with my camera. Harar Jugol, Dire Dawa and many small villages in between are the set of my project that focuses on the beauty and struggle of every day life.
All the pictures are moments of pure and immediate reaction rather than a conscious plan, they are my response to the strong and peaceful energy of Ethiopia.
About Andrea Torrei
Andrea Torrei is an Italian photographer based in Italy. Graduated in Political Science in Florence, she studied photography at CSF Adams and Officine Fotografiche in Rome and attended several seminars and workshops with different photographers, the most significant and important with Peter Turnely, Maciej Dakowicz, Vineet Vohra and the Magnum photographer Nikos Economopoulos exploring different genres, approaches and visions. Street and documentary photography are her main interests working mainly on personal projects with special attention to gender and social issues. [Official Website]
