Rasha Al Jundi 2022 Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence
Overview of the dry Oloisukut riverbed, Dol Dol, Laikipia county Kenya (February 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
John Kisio, 82, sits under a tree in his homestead. “I have nowhere to go. If I die, I want to die on my land”. Nadumoro village, Laikipia county, Kenya (February 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
Young cows rest after grazing Mukogodo forest, Laikipia county, Kenya (February 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
Maryamu Kisio (12 years) sits in the family's small kitchen. She is John’s niece daughter. The drawings on the wall are hers. She goes to school and hopes to grow up and become a vet to support the community and its livestock (February 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
A view of the 28 km long fence that stretches over two large-scale ranches and one conservancy, covering approximately 81,000 acres of land. Dol Dol, Laikipia county, Kenya (March 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
Prepared lunch for the community meeting attendees, Mukugodo forest, Laikipia county, Kenya (February 2022) © Rasha Al Jundi
A 27 year old Maasai man gets his face painted with red ochre in preparation for his wedding in Dol Dol, Laikipia county, Kenya (March 2022). The ochre is a mixture of red soil from the Great Rift Valley and cow fat. © Rasha Al Jundi
Sioya Kisio, 89 years, poses after returning from herding his cattle and goats. He is John’s older brother and the first born son of Mau Mau general, Kurito Ole Kisio. Nadumoro village, Laikipia county, Kenya (December 2021). © Rasha Al Jundi
Maasai women gather at the water collection point in their village, close to the fence that separates their community from Borana conservancy. A woman passes a jerrycan through the fence, after which she crawls back form underneath it to the village. Lukusero B, Laikipia county, Kenya (March 2022). © Rasha Al Jundi
A hut in a Maasai manyatta, Lukosero B, Laikipia county, Kenya (February 2022). © Rasha Al Jundi
Two Maasai youth in their homestead in Nadumoro village, Laikipia county, Kenya (March 2022). © Rasha Al Jundi
A group of Maasai women perform a traditional prayer ceremony for rain amid the ongoing drought in Dol Dol, Laikipia county, Kenya (February 2022). The prayer usually lasts for four days. The people in this area have not had good rains for the past three to four years. © Rasha Al Jundi
Red Soil
‘Every time a cow crossed into colonial settlers’ lands, the community would be punished by taking more of their lands and animals’, John Kisio, 82 years. Following one of many historical injustices that affected Kenya during the colonial British rule, ‘Red Soil’ is a documentary photography project that utilizes black and white digital images, to showcase the contemporary effects of that period of history on the Maasai people. Uprooted into different reserves, this indigenous population lost its freedom of movement to pursue its semi-nomadic lifestyle. The project focuses on Maasai communities north of the Great Rift Valley, where people are fenced off from accessing grabbed ancestral lands. Large-scale ranches and farms, wildlife conservancies and government settlement schemes surround those communities. Population pressure, drought and bad governance compound the everyday life of a tribe that strives to maintain its traditional ways. Resulting poverty and insecurity are pushing some community members into less lucrative alternative livelihoods. A tribe once known for its adaptability and vast influence across borders, is now fragmented. Across the border, the Maasai of Tanzania are about to face a similar face for the second time. They were pushed in the 1950s to create Serengeti national park. Now, around 80,000 people are facing loosing their ancestral lands for luxury tourism and trophy hunting by external investors.
About the Photographer
Rasha Al Jundi (b. 1984) is a Palestinian visual storyteller and documentary photographer. Born in Amman, Jordan, she grew up in the UAE, after which she pursued Masters degree in Community Nutrition from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. During her seven year stay in Lebanon, she volunteered with the Lebanese Red Cross and worked with academic research organizations coordinating rural development and environmental programs in the country. Since leaving Lebanon in 2009, she worked with many international development and humanitarian organizations in the Middle East and Africa. The year 2018 was a turning point when she was exposed to the power of documentary photography through one workshop with Jack Picone and Stephen Dupont. Since then, Rasha decided to invest in her passion for storytelling through visual storytelling, which she believes is universal in promoting healing and reconciliation. Her Palestinian roots and the history of forced displacement that has been affecting her family, inspires her to connect with people from around the world who may have experienced similar injustices. Her work generally follows a social documentary pathway. She aims to focus on decolonizing oversimplified narratives around historical injustices, and their contemporary impact on individuals and marginalized groups. Rasha is a 2022 graduate of the Documentary Photography and Visual Photojournalism program at the International Center for Photography in New York.