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ISBN: 1-933784-16-4
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288 pages 500+ photos
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Rarely have I worked with such a renaissance person! The photo exhibit of fine-art prints of the Swahili culture was enhanced by your eloquent presentation and memorialized in your beautiful book. The exceptional quality of the photography, the book, the lecture and the marketing campaign guaranteed a successful event.
– Hujoong Lee
Curator
LA Contemporary Gallery, L.A., CA
www.lacontemporary.com
"Kazi gani? (Your work, what is it?)" people always ask. "Msafiri (traveler), I reply on the Swahili coast. But back home I say "author,” “photographer", "z-entrepreneur", or "organic farmer" because, while the word ‘travel’ is derived from travail (work), Westerners view it as a pastime, never a profession. Not so the Swahili.
Originating from the same Arabic root that gives us the word ‘safari,’ msafiri is layered with meanings: “to unveil,” “to venture forth,” “ to discover,” “ to journey”, and “to disappear into the sunset.” It sounds like a metaphor for life!
A traveler. I love his title. His profession is the best symbol of our life. Going from—toward;
it is the history of every one of us.
– Henry David Thoreau
For the Swahili, as in the Middle East and Asia, a traveler is a trader of knowledge, gathering ideas and sharing them between cultures. “Go as far as China to learn if you must,” is a Swahili proverb that I take to heart. Whether I am on my journey as an author, photographer, z-entrepreneur, or organic farmer, I’ll go the extra mile to unearth the best of our world.
BIOgraphy:
Like Socrates who when asked ‘Where are you from” never answered ‘from Athens’ but rather ‘from the World’, I think of myself as a citizen of the world.
Like a Tibetan friend who when questioned ‘What do you do?’ never answered ‘wash dishes’ but rather ‘sing praises’, I view my work as a celebration of life.
I was fortunate to have a multi-cultural childhood. My parents came from Europe to participate in the founding of the United Nations. They hosted dignitaries in national dress from newly independent countries, while my sisters and I climbed trees and played tag with their children communicating only with smiles and laughter. On family trips back to Europe, my father handled world affairs, while we camped in tents and roamed the countryside. The world was my home and my aim was to explore it. Competing for scholarships, I studied in five countries and learned six languages. I came home with a B.A. in International Relations/Latin Ameries (Swarthmore College, PA ), a M.A. from The Institute of African Studies (Geneva, Switzerland) and an insatiable appetite for adventure.
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Wherever I land, photography becomes my passport to enter indigenous cultures. My camera becomes my companion and I no longer am traveling alone. It is instantly apparent what I am doing and I am left to my own devices. But, modernization makes it challenging to glean the quintessence from the global existent: I become a treasure seeker, capturing the essence of a culture to share with the present and preserve for the future. I do the same for my subjects that I do from my family: I show people at their best. I look for the pleasing rather than the pathos because, for most people, protecting endangered cultures is an abstraction; But once they yearn to personally experience that beauty, its conservation becomes worthy of support.
AUTHOR:
Writing transformed travel into a viable lifestyle. After publishing my first book, a marketing project for a celebrity photographer, I decided to focus on my passion: indigenous people. Intrinsically interesting, interior design was the genre I chose because I want to reach readers beyond ‘anthro-aficionados.’ As a reflection of a society’s heritage, décor is an entertaining way to make complex subjects accessible to a broad audience. In Safari Chic, I highlight safari lifestyle to explain the role of safari in wildlife conservation. In Swahili Chic, I spotlight a Moslem society to illustrate the fallacy of religious stereotyping. By focusing on luxurious accommodations available to travelers, I aim to diminish Western negativity towards Africa while increasing awareness, respect, and tourism… with the added benefit that I have to visit each and every wonderful location!
Z-ENTREPRENEUR:
On my travels, I discover local crafts and fabrics, meet artisans and healers, and try lotions and potions. Invariably, I return home with bags brimming with presents for friends and family: silk and sarongs, beads and batiks, amulets and aromatherapy, jewelry and gems of all kinds. The ‘gems’ I refer to are the contacts I make with kindred spirits: artists and craftsmen, camp owners and chefs, farmers and entrepreneurs. Driven by a desire to promote development in Africa this site provides a platfom to promote creative artists from Africa and beyond, providing an entry into the American marketplace.
By shopping on my site, you are directly supporting local entrepreneurs and artists who share their creations with the Western world without compromising the integrity of their product by producing massive quantities demanded for chain-store inventories for mall retailers of ethnic crafts. As a result, check the shop regularly because products change quickly as some sell-out and others arrive. Marketplace and i-café coming - check site again, soon.
You’ll discover my favorites from around the world… not just in the shop but also in the i-café, a cosmopolitan hang-out for kindred spirits from around the world. Let me introduce you to my contacts so you can use this site to build your own personal world-wide web of friends to share conversation, music and video about ‘travel’ in the broader, Swahili sense of the world – the exchange of ideas and experience between our global tribe.
CULTIVATOR:
The job of the traveler culminates with the return home. The trip may be over but another journey of discovery starts: Now is the time to transcend the details and see the larger picture. The journey was the teacher, but what are the lessons? A new perspective emerges as photo-editing, writing and design are tackled.
When I get bogged down inside my head, I go outside and get grounded working in the organic orchard (www.malibumeyers.com) Like traveling, cultivation of Meyer lemons, home-grown vegetables, and a happy family life is a great way to stay in touch with all that is sacred on earth.
As I write, another season starts in California. The trees are laden with fruit and vegetables are growing. My new book is in the hands of readers. I harvest fruit …listening for the call of a new adventure.
The real voyage of discovery lies not in discovering new lands
but in seeing with new eyes.
– Marcel Proust
