Photos from Our World

People of Swaziland

The Swazi people are distinguished by their friendliness and were always more than happy to pose for the camera. A dignified and handsome people, they were a great subject for portrait photography. This is a small selection of the many portraits I took in the different districts of the country.

Swazi women traditionally wear their hair in a beehive style known as "sicolo"; the hair is teased out with a porcupine quill and a pin is often worn stuck in it: this can be used to scratch the scalp if required. Another striking hair style is that worn by a "sangoma" or traditional healer. Often called 'witchdoctor", the sangoma wears his or, more frequently, her, hair in ringlets that are smeared with grease and red ochre.

The men sometimes still wear the traditional hairstyle: they might sit a long time underneath a waterfall and comb their hair out so it is straight. It would then bleached with grease and left to dry in the sun.

	Married woman	Swazi profile	Traditional "inyanga"	Woman teacher
	Mthethwa clansman	After washing hair	Woman of Mbabane	Man of Ntonjeni
	Man from Mashobeni	"Sangoma"	Elder from Lobamba	Dlamini clansman

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