I just wanted to thank you for the picture slide show. I am confident that you know how incredible your work is and how much we all appreciated you being in Hadar, if for no other reason than at least for the amazing photos we all get to gawk at.

I can say with pride, however, that we became friends and you aren’t just "some guy who was in Africa". In fact I have shown your slide show to many people, and I always introduce it as "a slide show made by the only other person in Hadar who’s throat I didn’t want to punch."

The trip would have, on many occasions, presented itself to be unbearable were it not for yours and Kaye’s support. I exaggerate not at all when I say too that the CD you sent is one of the most meaningful things I own. Were my house burning down, I would grab that CD first.

Thanks again, so much.
 

Here’s to a great year!

The Monk

Meet Marten:

He’s a staple of Hollywood. One of the most prolific actors that you’ve seen but never heard of. From the Never Ending Story and Roots of Evil to Transformers 2, Deep Roy is the sweetest person you’ll meet…and he’s wonderful to work with. Very few portrait subjects can turn it on when the camera’s on and shine the entire session. With Deep it was like clockwork. He was on the moment we started and made it happen for two hours of shooting. There were so many good poses to get through it was hard to choose. 

"Deep, look mad…like a pimp." I would say. Instantaneously he was there. He just moved into character. 

"Deep, show power." I said. He would throw his arms up, or grab the chair. He was on for the entire shoot. It’s no wonder he’s so sought after amongst directors.

We had a wonderful time in the studio and celebrated after the shoot together in Malibu. It was a memorable shoot for sure. One of those sessions with a ton of outtakes and stories you’ll remember forever.

We also had a pretty stellar team throwing this all together, without whom, I couldn’t have pressed the shutter.

Special thanks to:

Roslyn Barnfield from Portland, OR for the stellar production work. Incredible job with minimal funding. You killed it.

Leah Gallo and Derek Frey from London for setting up the meetings, making it happen and providing emotional support for the concept. And of course the after parties…eclipsed by no one. Miss you guys.

Jewelry by Misa

Hair by Tracy Rangel

Make-Up by Daniele Piersons 

Props by Josh Roth

Styling by Angela Barnfield

Studio LA  - Jewely Bennett

Modeling by Chelsea, Beate, Hillary…thanks hotties!

Over 24 hours on planes, another 10 on a bus, a final crawl with Land Cruiser and you’re there. It’s in the middle of nowhere, near the hottest place on earth, the nearest Coke is 40km away. It seems like there’s nothing there, that nothing can survive. And yet there’s something beautiful about it. It was so powerful I was caught off guard by the emotional connection I would have when I left. One that had me leaving in tears.

Our days were spent fossil hunting with prospective anthropologists of the Hadar Field School of which Dr. Kaye was instructing. Our nights, at least mine, were spent sweating bullets in a tent over scorpions, venomous snakes and big cats with big claws wandering our camp at night.

Alleviating some of that fear were the Afar men who kept watch over us with AK-47s. It took some getting used to. When you tell someone that you’re standing next to a 9-year-old with an AK, it sounds like you should move the hell on. But it was comforting.

After a few days of shooting, the younger Afar starting coming into the research tent at night to peer over my shoulder at the computer. I would soon have an entourage of gun-toting men behind me every day for the remainder of my time. Word was spreading amongst them old and young. I was then approached after breakfast, "Photo!" Before dinner, "Photo!" Quick shooting sessions were developing into both a portrait series and a friendship.

We communicated through gestures and very few words. We taught each other what we knew. They learned some photography. I learned how to climb their mountains, how they kill goats with honor, how to make a flute and how to dance. I held their guns, they held my camera. They were the warmest human beings I had been around and I was intrigued by our connection with each other.

It wasn’t until my final night in the desert that the value of this connection started to hit me. I would never see these men again. Everything we experienced together became more meaningful to me and I wanted to thank them for that.

I brought an interpreter with me into their tent.

"I’ve been here for two weeks now and it’s saddening that it’s going to end soon," I said as I choked up.

"I’ve learned so much from every one of you and consider you my friends. Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for America and I wanted to thank you. And although we don’t speak the same language I find it amazing that we were able to share what we did. I will miss you, I’ll never forget you and if you don’t say goodbye to me tomorrow I’ll be very upset."

I looked around in the tent filled with 20 Afar men with tears lining my eyes. They were quiet and a bit shocked to see a 30-year old white man getting emotional with them.
 

Then they started shouting back and the interpreter unraveled the noise,

"We learned a lot from you too. Like frisbee and photography. If you could stay longer we could teach you more about our culture and language. We could show you how to dance. But if we knew sooner that you were leaving, we would have done something for you."

I don’t know why I lost it. I barely knew these men.

I left the tent, had my last meal with Dr. Kaye and put on a slide show of the photos from the field school along with a show of the Afar portraits for everyone.

At it’s end, one of the Afar, Omar Dato, came up to me, "Benjamin!" he said. He started clapping his hands and stomping on the ground. He was pointing behind me. One of the professors mentioned they started a fire and wanted me to dance with them.

I left the research tent and walked back to the pitch black desert towards the bonfire.
 

"Wow." I said. It was breathtaking.

It was the most touching display I’ve ever seen. As I walked towards the fire, the Afar men began jumping up and down singing tribal songs. I could only make out a few words, America…Photo Katayisa (friend). Another song was about a camel. One of the students said, "Can you believe this is in your honor?"

What do you say to something like that? I was literally speechless. We stayed up dancing next to the fire until one of the students was stung by a scorpion. I slept like a baby.

The morning was quiet during breakfast. I said goodbye to everyone. Dr. Kaye and I choked up as we hugged each other goodbye. We both understood how special the experience was as our connection had strengthened. I climbed into the Land Cruiser. There were four Afar men inside. We pulled away and I teared up again. And as the tear rolled down my cheek, one of the Afar, Muhammad Isi, wiped it away, "Don’t cry." he said in broken English. He scribbled on his hand to tell me to write letters. Another Afar, Omar, grabbed my hand and held it until I stopped. It was very calming. That moment was the last photo I took in Ethiopia.

Until December

Thank you Dr. Kaye.

See the full series: www.benjaminreedphotography.com

Mariel Zagunis is a badass. After making history at the Athens Olympics becoming the first American fencer in a century to win a gold medal (which is also in the history books as the first for women’s saber), she won gold again in Beijing…add that to her 7 world titles and, like I said, she is a badass. Her list of achievements is scary.

Music is a big part of my life.
I’m kind of quirky, kind of a dork.
I like to read.
I’m pretty laid back.

For BusinessWeek by Benjamin Reed