Holly Parkinson

East Africa

During a trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I became aware of the many local people who helped and assisted me during my stay in East Africa. I produced this body of work, based upon on these people and how they rely on the tourism industry to the mountain in order to live and survive in an inhospitable environment for most western visitors.

The people included in this documentation range from the porters on the mountain to young children fishing on the beach, who are using unique skillsets to create and then sell their wares. I wanted to capture the strength of these local people through my photography on this trip. This documentary photo series ultimately inspired me to research and write my dissertation on ‘The Photojournalistic Representation of Famine and Everyday Life in Africa from 1980 to the Present Day’, where I discussed how western media has slowly transitioned from pity to positivity highlighted some of the main issues that led to a long period of injustice, where many African countries suffered from westerners’ ‘compassion fatigue’.

Whilst the 21st century has brought a positive shift in the way in which we see, document and interact with African countries and communities, and how we in western cultures deal with their representation, this body of work attempts to celebrate beauty and strength of African communities who, although change for the better has undoubtedly occurred are still beholden to the tourism of mainly western cultures for their survival.