8. Sensuality

I look ahead at some large, yellow water containers that are stored in a tree.  I wonder why they’re up there like that.  I move closer to get a better look, and I’m surprised to see a teenage girl working hard, carrying a full container.  As she sets it down near her home, I approach her and say “hello”.  She seems surprised to see me, especially because we’re in the back corner of her tiny village and very few people are around.  “May I take your photograph?” I ask.  She nods her head, although I notice a little hesitation.  I don’t want to be intrusive, but I slowly bring my camera to my eye and wonder whether she is going to change her mind.  She doesn’t.  I take one image and then a couple more.  She seems comfortable with me, but I still sense a little hesitation, so I stop.  “Would you like to see?” I ask, turning my camera around to show her the photos.  She looks, but she’s not very enthused.  I assume it might be because I interrupted her work, so I decide to leave.  I reach into my wallet and get some Birr (Ethiopian currency) to pay her, but I have only large bills.  “I want to pay you,” I say, not sure if she understands me, “but I only have large bills, and I need to get some change.”  She studies my eyes but doesn’t say anything.  “I promise.  I’ll be back in a few minutes.  I’m going to get some change.”  I run to another part of the village looking for Henok, the expedition’s local guide, interpreter and “banker”.  I’m happy to find him, and he has smaller bills.  I make the exchange and turn around to go back to the girl.  “You’re not going to shop?” he asks, surprised.  I look back and see that part of my photography group is walking through an area with all sorts of crafts.  “I can’t now.  I owe this girl some money.  I’ll be back.”  “We’re leaving in about ten minutes.”  “So soon?”  “Yes.  You better hurry.”  I run back across the village and through an opening in the fence where the girl lives.  When I get close to where I photographed her, I hear someone giggling.  I look to my right and see a girl in a bright green sarong standing at the fence.  Her beauty stops me in my tracks.  She’s simply exquisite…  I stare at her for a moment, wondering where she came from, but then I remember that I need to find the other girl to pay her.  “I’ll be back in a minute,” I say.  “I need to find the girl who lives here.”  “Me,” she says.  Then it hits me that this girl is the girl I photographed moments ago.  Stunned by the wardrobe and attitude change, I walk over and ask if I can take more photos of her, even though I know what her answer will be.  She confidently nods her head, and I bring my camera to my eye, noticing how the warm golden light from the sunset surrounds her.  I frame her in my lens.  As the shutter releases, I gasp, knowing what we just created.  I show her the photo, but I don’t say anything.  Instead, I watch as she curiously studies herself in the image.  Seeing the look on her face makes me wonder how often she gets to see herself free of the harsh realities of living in a remote village.  Perhaps she is seeing her blossoming sensuality for the first time.