1993

Gabbra Matriarch with Women and Girls, Ethiopian Refugee Camp, Walda, Kenya

American, born 1965

In Africa during the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people escaped wars in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan by going to Kenya. Many chose to stay along Kenya’s border in refugee camps. Fazal Ilhai Sheikh felt uncomfortable with the way other photojournalists rushed through the camps, spending less than a day there and taking pictures only of what they expected to see. He wanted to learn the complicated stories of the people he photographed, so he decided to spend three years taking pictures there. He also asked the elders for permission before inviting someone to sit for a portrait, established a direct and respectful way of photographing his subjects, and collaborated with them in the making of each picture.