Silver / 2022 / Portraiture / Children

• Prize
  Silver in Portraiture/Children
• Photographer
  Guy Needham, New Zealand

I recently spent time with the Hadzabe tribe in Northern Tanzania where I stayed with a group of families in a boma. This young girl quickly became a favourite of mine. From a distance she appeared Dickens-esque with something smeared around her mouth. Then I realised it was the only clean part of her face, with only her eyes popping out from the dust and dirt. While she couldn’t read or write - none of the Hadzabe can - she loved drawing animals with me. Looking back at the image it shows a child in wonder at the world, her pride tempered by wariness, and an inner strength belying her age.