Carlo Ertola

People in Bahir Dar use papyrus reeds (known as ደንገል-deng’el in Amharic), to build a variety of objects they use in their daily life. This material is comparable to bamboo but is more malleable and versatile. 

This photo story attempts to capture some of the cultural and economic significance this organic material has to the small community in Debremariam, an island monastery nearly a millennium old, found in Bahir Dar between Lake Tana and the Blue Nile.

Biography Carlo Ertola