The Brief: you’ll be parachuted (figuratively speaking) into Ethiopia for 28 days to build a promotional photo library for the country’s national tourism authority. Setting off with a local guide, a driver and two guide books, you’ll be expected to travel the length and breadth of Ethiopia to photograph its tourism highlights.
Your Client: An international tourism consultancy based in England, engaged by The World Bank (you may remember meeting one of their directors – somewhat distraught – last year during a shoot as you drifted out to sea in a broken dinghy several hours from the tiny South Pacific island of Kiribati). You will be working directly with the country’s national tourism authority.
The Outcome: You’ll be expected to deliver a 300 strong image library which will be drawn from immediately to produce a new range of promotional collateral to market Ethiopia worldwide.
Hurdles: It’s the rainy season and the print deadline for the raft of publications you’ll be shooting for is two weeks after you complete the first of two 14 day assignments. And there’s the 24 hour flight that will deposit you at the most exhausting end of the international dateline.
Working in your favour: You’ll have plenty of Ethiopian coffee to keep you going.
Ps: For a travel photographer, let me say, this has to be as good as it gets.