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Himbas, numbering around 50,000 people, are an ethnic group living in northern Namibia, in the Kunene region, formerly Kaokoland.
The Himba wear little clothing, but the women are famous for covering themselves with a mixture of butter fat, ochre and herbs to protect themselves from the sun. The mixture gives their skins a reddish tinge and symbolizes earth's rich red color and the blood that symbolizes life, and is consistent with the Himba ideal of beauty. Women braid each other's hair and cover it in their ochre mixture.
Modern clothes are scarce, but generally go to the men when available. Traditionally both men and women go topless and wear skirts or loincloths made of animals skins in various colors. Boys are generally circumcised before puberty, to make them eligible for marriage. Marriages are arranged at a daughter's birth and usually take place when the girl is between about 14 and 17.
Because of the harsh desert climate in the region where they live and their seclusion from outside influences,. Members live under a tribal structure based on bilateral descent that helps them live in one of the most extreme environments on earth. Under bilateral descent, every tribe member belongs to two clans, one through the father (a patriclan) and another through the mother (a matriclan). Himba clans are led by the eldest male in the clan. Sons live with their father's clan and when daughters marry they go to live with the clan of their husband. However, inheritance of wealth does not follow the patriclan but is determined by the matriclan, i.e. a son does not inherit his father's cattle but his maternal uncle's instead. Anthropologists consider the bilateral descent system advantageous for groups that live in extreme environments because it allows individuals to rely on two sets of families dispersed over a wide area.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himba
Cropped, applied gradual toning.
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from jduckett/John (4,212) 
on May 15, 2012 5:20:19 PM CDT
(3)
Hello Erdem,
My first reaction was that she has something wrong with her legs, before I realised that it's a wide angle shot. In my opinion it's not an attractive look. This is a pity because the subject, including her home and domestic items, is interesting. I've given you a thumb up because I can see what you were trying to say with your picture, and I think that should be acknowledged. If you had used a basic documentary approach then this could have been a powerful image. In my opinion, your mistake was to be too "arty".
I think that a less extreme focal length and a much lower viewpoint, to show more of her face, would have been more pleasing. This would have made the viewer feel more like part of the scene rather than like an ousider looking in. Some eye contact would have been good too .
I assume that the brightness range of the scene was quite high. You have handled this without any burnt out highlights or blocked shadows but the image has a rather gloomy, uninviting look. I suggest that the mid range would benefit from increased brightness and maybe some more contrast as well.
Regards, John.
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From suppiluliuma/Erdem (7,100)
on May 16, 2012 12:33:34 AM CDT
John, thank you for your elaborate critique and suggestions.
Most of the pictures of Himba I saw were close-ups, showing naked local women in traditional dresses. I surely took simlar pictures, that's not a critique, but after taking many shots you want to try different angles or to show the environment they are living in. In this case the mud hut looked attractive to me and I used the wide angle. The legs didn't distrub me at all, in fact they looked interesting in their V shape, but I understand what you meant.
Re the light, you're right, I could have applied some local brightening at PS.
I'll try to share some more pictures in the tune of what yopu have suggested in the future, I hope.
Regards and thanks again.
Erdem
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from lurchi/Ulrich (61,244) 
on May 15, 2012 6:56:43 AM CDT
(2)
I can find no reason why this has been taken with such an extreme wide angle, considering that the resulting and predictable severe distortion of the woman's body proportions in addition to the POV looking down on her makes this person look grotesque and miserable. This could be done to structures and lifeless items, and it may be done with people if a certain artistic purpose is achieved. Here it makes a human being look like a funny object.
Regards, U.
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From suppiluliuma/Erdem (7,100)
on May 15, 2012 7:13:43 AM CDT
Thank you for your frank feedback Ulrich.
One reason could be that the photographer wanted to give the details of the environment where the family lives, or to have a different perspective thanks to the position of her legs, compared to the classic Himba pictures.
Best regards,
Erdem
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