A cat looks out into the streets of the Jubol, the old city of Harar, to see what I am doing in its territory.  

Until I get more coherent projects up, these are ten of my favorite images which I have taken.

My most interesting photos, as chosen by flickr’s interestingness algorithm. This set is automatically generated on a regular basis and a good introduction to what other people have liked in my work. It lacks coherence, as it is a mix of landscape and travel images.

Qes Deseta Altah was one of my informants for my dissertation research on Ethiopian scribal production. I took this portrait while meeting with him at his home in Gelawdios, outside of Bahir Dar.

Two men paddle a load of wood from the far shores of Lake Tana to the Bahir Dar area. Despite the great weight of the wood, which submerges the boat, waterlogged papyrus still remains very buoyant, and resists sinking.

A man paddles a large papyrus boat called a tanqwa on Lake Tana, shipping wood from the islands and shores to the Bahir Dar area. Despite the heavy load and low draft, papyrus boats continue to float, as waterlogged papyrus is still quite buoyant.

I realize this is not the most flattering picture, but I thought it went well as an illustration of one of my smaller investigations. The actual strips of papyrus that I cut (by drawing the knife along the whole length of the  stem, as the ones where I attempted to ‘unroll’ it were an unsatisfactory [...]

Bundles of a papyrus are stored against a building on a small farmstead outside of Bahir Dar, on Lake Tana. Papyrus is used for a variety of local purposes, most notably the papyrus boats called tanqwas.

A man rows home in the evening, with his nets and his catch of Nile Perch, in a papyrus boat called a tanqwa on Lake Tana, just outside of Bahir Dar.

Papyrus used as a building material: the wall of a light-duty building.