Tuesday, January 31, 2012

KUL HAR MAN I ALLA FALL

som fotograf. Idag var en av de dagar där man verkligen får uppleva det annorlunda och sticka ut på uppdrag.  Jag skulle porträttera Eva som har Evas Ullkläder. Jag tänkte att det hade varit kul att få med på bild lite får då hennes kläder är gjorda av 100% ull. Eva ringde en granne och vi fick åka dit. Fåren fick färsk mat och vi hade himla kul att fotografera bland de och riktig tur med vädret. Det var så skönt!
Tack Eva för en trevlig stund och alla fåren med!























Jag passade på att köpa lite goa underkläder och är ni sugen på riktig bra kvalité som inte bara slängs efter några månader gå in på http://www.ullklader.se/.

Monday, January 30, 2012

RELIGION IN ZANZIBAR



Every school has it's uniform. So while we are in a muslim country even non-muslim girls have to wear the head cover that they then take off after school time.


























The dominant religion in Zanzibar is the Islamic though you can find  a few followers of Christianity and Hinduism.  As a woman you should avoid having naked shoulders in respect for the local customs.
And topless bathing is absolutely not the right thing to do here.
There are several mosques in Stone Town,  one on each corner it seems like. So, don't get surprised to be awakened by a chanting man screaming out lout 4 or 5a.m from your nearest mosquee. I will never really understand why they have to scream like this so you get a heart attach in the middle of your sleep. Another thing i don't understand and I have a hard time to accept is why woman or a non-muslim can't enter a mosquee. Why, what is there to hide that one can't get into? And what are they afraid about?

I know a lot of european people don't like to see woman all covered, but I like it. It's like a shower of happy coulours all over. Would't it be for the religions purposes I would see it on a fashion catwalk in Milano or New York. And then those woman, they walk so proudly, so high headed and really, haven't we had that too here in Europe non that long time ago? In Sicily you can still find it.

One night we were in the big park down at the ocean and there were plenty of black dressed woman, which weren't there the night before. Since I am pretty curious I couldn't hold on and went and asked the difference between the them and the other colourfulled women. One of the 3 girls I started to talk to could english and they had just arrived from Oman to spend one month of holidays.  Their dressed were covered of stones that reflected so beautifully on the black fabric. So, there we go, I got the good explenation.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

GIRLY DIANA

I was really looking forward to start with my children shoots again after holidays. First in the studio 2012 is little Diana, 8 month old, with such a lovely flower in the hairs and a adorable skirt. A little ballerina.
Here 2 pictures I like a lot from the day.


Friday, January 27, 2012

THE FORMER SLAVE MARKET IN ZANZIBAR

One of the most intresting sites we visited during our stay in Zanzibar was the former slave market.
Slavery was indeed one of the biggest incomes during the 18 century when Omans ruled on the island.

Caravans started out from Bagamoyo on the mainland coast, travelling as much as 1,000 miles on foot as far as Lake Tanganyika, buying slaves from local rulers on the way, or, more cheaply, simply capturing them. The slaves were chained together and used to carried ivory back to Bagamoyo. The name Bagamoyo means 'lay down your heart;' because it was here that slaves would abandon hope of freedom. Slaves who survived the long trek from the interior were crammed into dhows bound for Zanzibar, and paraded for sale like cattle in the Slave Market.
All of the main racial groups were involved in the slave trade in some way or other. Europeans used slaves in their plantations in the Indian Ocean islands, Arabs were the main traders, and African rulers sold prisoners taken in battle.




In this underground "room" 75 woman were kept captured with few to drink. In the middle there is a canal where the tied water came in twice a day taking and bringing in al sorts of things. Lot of people would become ill or die here.

















Being sold into slavery was not a prisoner's worst fate - if a prolonged conflict led to a glut, the Doe tribe north of Bagamoyo had the rather gruesome habit of eating 'excess supplies'.
Sultan Barghash was forced in 1873, under the threat of a British naval bombardment, to sign an edict which made the sea-borne slave trade illegal, and the slave market in Zanzibar was closed, with the Cathedral Church of Christ erected on the site.



































Dr. Livingstone was a very important part in that treaty. But the trade continued, particularly on the mainland. Slaving was illegal, but it existed openly until Britain took over the mainland following their defeat of the Germans in the First World War. Many former slaves found that their conditions had hardly changed - they were now simply employed as labourers at very low wage rates in the spice plantations.
This monument was made by a swedish woman called Clara Sörnäs in 1997 to honour all the slaves that died here or were transorted to a horrible life somewhere in Europe, America or Oman.

The church where once women and men were sold.
Woma were more expensive cause they could produce more slaves "of course"!!! :-(

Thursday, January 26, 2012

A GOOD CATCH

Stone Town has a lifely market with a section for fish, meat (beaf and goat), chicken and vegetables. As usually it was really warm when we went there, but fisherman had been up since late in the night and now it was time to see the fish catched.




Wednesday, January 25, 2012

HAVING A GOOD TIME

What does people do when it's hot and where electricity controls your life. Coz. this is one of the major problems in Zanzibar. It comes and goes whenever Dar Er Salaam wants, coz. that is where the electricity comes from, transported via a cable in the water that was build in the 60'ies.
So young people that are not addicted to computer like we in the western countries find more funny things to do. Maybe a little bit dangerous but at least it's like a free party going on every night.
Jumping into the water from a high wall along the shore of Stone Town.
The water temperature in January might come to 30-32 degrees so don't worry nobody gets a flue.
Foreigners and locals enjoy sitting on the wall and watching the sun go down and people jumping and making funny figures in the air, some of them more brave then the other. There is a good sistem going on. One of the boys controls that nobody is down in the water and another one screams out loud "Go".




Saturday, January 21, 2012

NIGHT MARKED

A fishermans life in Zanzibar isn't easy. They go out in the night, come in early in the morning, try to sell later the fish at the fish marked. Get to sleep around 4  hours and go up again to prepar table and food for the night marked situated in front of The House of Wonder, just close to the beaches. Guys are pushing tourists. Prices change according to who the buyer is. And yes I payed definitively too much one night.
But it was a mixture of smell and rumours. People shouting, children crying, woman chatting, tourist enjoying a more affordable temperature. It was a big reunion place for everybody. A few cafés were open where you can sit down and sip a cup of chai masala or spiced chai or why not a ginger soda.
A large choice of different fish and vegetable as well as Zanzibar pizza.

One of the working fisherman that don't sleep a lot.

Girls and boys meet here with and without families. 

Some places it was very cheap like here to get real homemade food some not.


Zanzibar pizza chef

Friday, January 20, 2012

ON THE BEACH OF STONE TOWN

Stone Town or Zanzibar town as you prefer has some short beaches where you can enjoy watching the daily life. Fishermen preparing their boats, boys playing football at sunset, all kind of boats and ships, children jumping and running in and out from the water, foreigner taking a sun bath halv naked meanwhile muslim girls and boys enjoy a walk fully dressed.  It\s a real pleasure just to sit down and watch. Here some of the pictures I took during a week of observation.

Two boys enjoying sunset


This is indeed something crazy we could observe. Big ferry coming to the beach and then trying to load cars.....ehm.... yeah!


Check out the contrast between fore and background!


One of my best shots! The zanzibar DHOW boat in the bakground

Children enjoying time after school.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

DOLPHIN VILLAGE

One of the places and tours we visited during our holidays in Zanzibar was the dolphin village in Kizimkazi. 5.30 in the morning they picked us up from the hotel and we drove from Stone Town to Kizimkazi. Only a few other tourist boats were outside and I am happy for that, because this was one of the few things I disliked of the whole trip. Chasing dolphins to swim with them.
Yes indeed they are free and can actually swim away from us people but I do believe they don't need a bunch of tourist boats chasing them all day long, all year long.
When the captain of our 9 persons little boat said "Now, jump" it was like a race who is first in the water, who is first at swimming, seeing the dolphin.  Yes I saw 2 of them, but I am not proud and I hope if you ever consider going to Zanzibar to not join this tours. I don't think its worse the money.

Moby dick, our boat for the trip with the crew preparing for departure.

Grap your equipment before jumping into the boat!


Captain and seaman happy after all of us guests saw the dolphin in the water

Fast they are, so this is all I got from that moment that early morning!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

ZANZIBAR BYE BYE

Well save back home after a 2 weeks holidays/job in Zanzibar. Warm weather, happy moments, lots of pictures, wonderful meetings with people.
Of course the difference is huge. Back in Sweden, cold and rain and fever. But here we go I would like to share a first picture with you.
The second week we lived on the West coast in a little place called Bwejuu. There we had a really long white sand beach. Sundays and afternoons children came out to play in the send. Often the older brothers and sister took care of the little ones while parents at work.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Holidays - closed until 17 january 2012

I wish everybody a Happy New Year from the island of Zanzibar, where I am taking pictures for the new calendar 2013!