Life and culture in Ethiopia by Trevor Cole

These images are a cross section of the diversity of life and culture in Ethiopia. The tribes of the Omo valley, the Afar of the Danakil desert and the Orthodox christians of the highlands. 

To capture people and landscapes and the interactions between them in the light of a world in transition is to encapsulate an inimitable moment, which will never again materialise. Trevor’s ‘take’ as a geographer photographer!

Born in the City of Derry but he has lived most of my life outside the bounds of Ireland in England, Singapore, Togo, Italy, Ethiopia and Brazil. Recently he returned to Ireland (Donegal). Trevor’s photography, together with travel, have become two of his life’s passions.He studied Geography at University and taught it in international schools. His photography focuses on culture, landscapes and wildlife; images which reflect a spatial and temporal journey through life and which try to convey a need to live in a more sustainable world. He seeks the moment and the light in whatever context I find himself and endeavours to use my photographic acumen to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

He leads small photo tours in his ‘own Donegal’ and Ireland but also to other destinations. He lived in Ethiopia from 2006-2010 and since then has returned to take photographers to the Western and Eastern Omo, Harar, the Danakil desert and the highlands of Ethiopia. Additionally he takes phototours to Iceland, Namibia as well as travelling himself to discover and capture new locations.

He has published images in magazines, calendars and cards, and presented to The Royal Geographical Society in December 2011 and to tertiary institutions in Ireland in 2013. Images have been used in the tourist industry, online travel writing and for educational purposes in the form of presentations for the International Baccalaureate. He has also exhibited in Ethiopia, Switzerland and Ireland. He reached the final of Travel Photographer of the year in 2010, 2011,2013 and 2015 and was also a finalist in the ‘Wanderlust Magazine’ Travel Photographer of the year in 2013 in the portfolio category. The images were exhibited at the ‘Times’ Travel and Destinations show at Earlscourt in London in February 2014. His images of Ethiopia have been used online by the Italian newspaper ‘La Republica’ and also published online by National Geographic, 1x.com and Africa Geographic. He was a finalist (runner up) in the ‘Africa Geographic photographer of the year’ and winner of the ‘People and Culture’ category 2015 and again a finalist in 2016 and winner of the travel/scenic category.  he has been published in the Africa Geographic yearbook, The Exposure Awards and one image ‘The Old Priest’ was showcased  in a 2-week exhibition in London in association with Photocrowd, Alamy and THEPRINTSPACE in September 2015. He was also awarded seven ‘honourable mentions’ in the monochrome awards in 2015, and 9 in 2016. An image of the Suri tribe in Ethiopia was also published in the ‘Survival – calendar in 2016 and subsequently published the Guardian and Telegraph newspapers in the UK. In 2015/16 he has had images published in Digital FOTO (a Danish publication), Digital Camera and N-Photo(Nikon).  More recently he has had ‘Inside some of the World’s most remote tribes’ – a photo documentary, published in the Daily Mail online, ‘Tribes of Ethiopia’ published in the Edge of Humanity Magazine (an American publication) and 1x magazine (https://1x.com/blog/permalink/7918). He has been published in ‘Digital Photographer  magazine twice in the last few months and have won The Wanderlust Magazine travel photographer of the year 2016 in the portfolio category. The presentation and exhibition took place at Olympia in February 2017. [Official Website]

He aspires to have a vision for tomorrow – An Alternative Vision. He believes that photography can capture those inimitable moments and empower us to make a positive change in our world.