Abyssinia
When Gary Nabhan went to Ethiopia to follow in Vavilov’s footsteps, he took copies of some of the photographs Vavilov made there … and produced copies of his own.
Vavilov's picture of a woman selling peppers in Ankober, 1927
Gary Nabhan's picture, 80 years later, near Debre Libanos.
The market at Gondar, 1927, by Vavilov.
Same market, 2007, by Gary Nabhan
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Four photographs — so much history and change, yet so much continuity of the essence of the original. Mindblowing.
Several years ago I visited a similar market in Lalibela, the site of Ethiopia’s astonishing monolithic churches. When I came to a region of the market where everyone was coughing and sneezing I realized we had entered the salt and pepper section, and the goods were clearly doing their work on our sinuses. I bought some excellent honey with honeycomb (I also bought a small previously used plastic container with lid, because in my haste I must have forgotten to bring one from home). I had some difficulty in paying for it, because I had a large note and with no banks in the whole town, the proper denominations for change were in short supply. Amazing place. If you have never seen the churches, it is worth a virtual stroll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela,_Ethiopia .