A shot in the dark

By Binyam Tamene

Pictures depict transport hub’s creatures of night

Visitors to Metehara, located at the eastern Oromia zone, in the early decades of the 20th century frequently described the area a volcanic no-man’s land between the Afar, Karayu Oromo and Amhara settlers.

For truck drivers who have to go through Metehara to reach either Addis Ababa or Djibouti it is the ‘safest’ land to relax their muscles after the long drive.

The photo exhibition, held last week, shows the towns vitality as a transportation hub and portrays its vibrant nightlife, with truck drivers talking in roadside bars.
Truckers are not the only ones who come out when the sun goes down.

Mulugeta Ayene, a freelance photojournalist, depicts the “sex workers depending on [the truckers] for their [livelihood].”

His work “A Light in a Shadow,” displays this aspect of Metehara, in an exhibition displayed at the Habesha Art Gallery last week. His work takes us through a day in the life of the town’s sex workers.

“My passion for photography allows me to travel across Ethiopia and worldwide.” he says, describing his mission to capture the wonderful image of ‘what this planet has to offer to us.’

His realistic photography succeeds in capturing the lives of sex workers in their houses, leisure time, and their jobs in an interesting attractive style.

He says his mission is to capture harsh reality as well as beauty. Though the sex and transportation workers bring problems such as HIV/AIDS, there are attractive and unique aspects of the town.

“Through the eyes of my lenses I love to capture the moment, the nature, the beauty of my subject but I also like to include my imagination, my creativity and my love for this art,” he says.

Along with Mulugeta’s work, the exhibition, organized by Internews Ethiopia, displayed works of nine photojournalists, who participated in the training with a final project to travel to the field to produce a photo essay about the most at risk population.

The photo essays have been created from a selection of photographs from the photojournalists and tell vibrant stories about the people.
Another photo, taken by Anteneh Aklilu, also depicts the families of the sex workers.

“Night is the most active time in Metehara. While most of the people on the streets are sex workers and truck drivers, families are often still out working late,” the caption for one of Anteneh’s photo reads.

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