The Crocodile Hunters of Ethiopia | HUNTERS

Joey Lawrence has been creating an archive of photographs of Ethiopia’s dying traditions for the last 12 years, but his life’s work will not be complete until he captures the one tradition that continues to elude his eye since he first began his work on the African continent. The Dassanach is a Southern tribe that occupied the arid desert surrounding Lake Turkana long before the country of Ethiopia existed. The majority of the Dassanach tribe is cattle-owning pastoralists, but the poorest among them are nomadic and follow ancient hunting techniques first mastered by their ancestors. To survive, these members of the Dassanach hop in wooden canoes and risk their lives to hunt massive man-eating crocodiles with wooden harpoons in the middle of the night. With the indigenous tradition on the verge of extinction, it’s Joey’s last chance to capture it on film, and he’ll do anything to make sure he gets the once-in-a-lifetime shots. We follow Joey on this journey as he risks life and limb to document this brave, and dying, tradition of the Dassanach.