Where Fire Speaks: A Visit With the Himba (Parallax) - Softcover

Shields, Sandra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551521318 ISBN 13: 9781551521312

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2003

Synopsis

On the wild river that divides Namibia from Angola, members of the Himba tribe herd cattle as they have done for hundreds of years.

But the world of the Himba sits in the shadow of third-world development and the inevitability of change that threatens their way of life; now, they are more likely to attend evangelical church services, congregate around the liquor trader’s truck, and pose for tourists’ photographs.

Sandra Shields and David Campion spent two months living with the Himba, and this book, a provocative melding of photography and narrative, tells of the profound changes in the lives of the Himba—both gradual and immediate—which echo those effecting indigenous people around the world.

Includes more than one hundred black and white -photographs.

David Campion and Sandra Shields met in South Africa, married a year later, and have collaborated for over a decade. Sandra has written for publications including Geist and The Globe and Mail, and David’s photographs have appeared in publications and exhibitions in Canada, Europe, and Africa.

PHOTOGRAPHY + TEXT = PARALLAX

Parallax, a new series of books from Arsenal Pulp Press, explore the far reaches of the modern world, proposing new perspectives on how we see ourselves through the eyes and the words of our most intriguing photographers and writers.

About this title

About the Author:

Sandra Shields and David Campion are a married couple who collaborate on numerous narrative/photographic projects, including the book Where Fire Speaks, which won the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize in 2003. They live outside of Vancouver, BC. Sandra Shields and David Campion are a married couple who collaborate on numerous narrative/photographic projects, including the book Where Fire Speaks, which won the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize in 2003. They live outside of Vancouver, BC.

Review:

Handsomely produced and thought-provoking.
—Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)

To their credit, the authors are wise enough to offer only observations, not answers, and the tale is told in a self-effacing observational style that is very refreshing. Not once in the sixty black and white photos do we catch a glimpse of our would-be protagonists.
—ascent magazine (ascent magazine)

Exquisite and sensual, witty and often poignant, David Campion's photographs tell the layered stories of a traditional culture embracing the contemporary world. And Sandra Shields' sensitive and probing text reminds us that there is no longer an "end of the earth." This graceful book sensitively observes how the Himba people are embracing consumer culture while outsiders search for the values that they think they have lost. This is the story of the new global community, told with insight and honesty by two Canadians roaming through northern Namibia.
—Kim Echlin, author of Dagmar's Daughter (Kim Echlin)

Where Fire Speaks is a striking portrait of Southern Africa's Himba tribe. Campion's powerful black and white photography coupled with Shields' account of their two-month experience living among the tribe results in an impressive collaborative work of non-fiction.
—Calgary Herald (Calgary Herald)

In a compact form, [Campion & Shields] present a moving portrayal of one of the world's numerous indigenous people's coming to terms with, on one hand, their traditional life and, on the other, the enticements and forces of modernity.
—Crank Magazine (Crank Magazine)

About this edition

• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1551521318
• ISBN 13: 9781551521312
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168