Youth Marriage
Lamu Island, Kenya, Africa
Camera: Rolleiflex
The story: Lamu is a Kenyan Island along the Somalian Border with an ancient Muslim culture dating back to the era of the Dhow Traders. Its streets are tight and narrow, showing a much closer likeness to an Asian Culture than the African world where it is rooted. The Muslim code demands devotion to their God Allah with prayers five times daily. Like most Muslim towns, it is a strict patriarchal society with little crime (punishment being so severe) and arranged marriages. While wandering the streets early morning, I came across a young couple at their home. The man was a proud and confident husband of 14 with a child wife of 11 years. This was the first of a series of photographs I shot of them and later sent back to them in Kenya. According to Muslim culture, when in public, women are supposed to cover their faces with a veil so as not to tempt other males. Being young, the wife still had a girl's instincts and stared at me openly. This lasted only briefly, however. A few short words in Swahili from her husband were enough to place her back under the societal restraint of a veil.
