Often the farmers work on their land while the children shape the scarecrows with what nature offers them, modelling the earth so that they appear threatening. Their faces reveal an amazing creativity.

Having photographed the body paintings and decorations of the Omo people, this is the first time that Hans Silvester shows us the expressionist images that bring these creatures of straw, clay and rags to life. The scarecrow was an innate culture that marked the cultivated areas of the countryside and is still practiced by the Benchs. Indeed, farmers make them according to an established tradition that allows for artistic spontaneity. In the fields, these postichous humans have the duty to discourage birds in order to preserve the crops. In addition to their mission of deterrence, the scarecrows have a symbolic charge to produce an abundant agriculture.

Retour De Voyage has selected this photo which highlights the materiality borrowed from the surrounding nature.