Face to Face: Mario Gerth Photography
Most of us see dozens of faces every day. We might stare at our coworkers, glance at our fellow bus riders, or smile at our partners. The human face is one of the first images a baby learns to recognize. And yet even though the face is so important—and such a huge part of our lives—we don't always stop to contemplate the grace and beauty of our fellow humans. But photographer Mario Gerth does.
Mario's Story
Mario Gerth is a German photographer who has traveled to 65 countries on five different continents, where he has witnessed everything from civil war to extreme poverty. The part-time banker is also a photojournalist, and during his travels, he made it his goal to capture the nomadic peoples of Africa. The result is a stunningly beautiful series of photoessays that pay tribute to the elegance, strength, and dignity of each subject.
Though Mario calls Germany his home, he spent months traveling across some of the most remote areas of Africa to create these images. One of his projects focused on the Ethiopian Surma tribe, a group of pastoral people living on the western bank of the Omo River. They decorate their bodies through scarification, and as you can see in the images, they also paint their bodies white for certain occasions.
Why We Love It!
Looking through Mario's photography, it's almost impossible not to feel instantly inspired. Inspired to travel, inspired to create—or maybe just inspired to take a closer look at the people around you.
You can see much, much more of Mario's work by visiting his Flickr page. He has photos of Namibian wildlife, Kenyan tribes, and street life in Addis Adaba. He even has some gorgeous landscape shots. Check it out here.
