Black History Month: Hilina Abebe
© Hilina Abebe - from The Shoe Shine Girl
After a year of living apart, Meron, four and a half, reunited with her mother Meseret just a few days before this photo was taken. Meseret says it was difficult for her to raise Meron because Meron was constantly lashing out on her due to her fathers absence. 04 September 2017
Hilina Abebe is a self-taught documentary photographer born and raised in Ethiopia. She was heavily influenced by black and white images her father had developed in the 1960s and 70s. With her focus set on long-form documentation and portraiture, Abebe juxtaposes identity, history, inequality and the significance of memory. Her background in Journalism and Social Works furthers a developing discussion on issues within her storytelling and images. Abebe’s work has been included in the New York times Portfolio Review and the World Press Photo East Africa Masterclass.
Abebe’s series, The Shoe Shine Girl, documents the life of a young, single mother, Meseret. When Abebe and Meseret first met in 2013, she was 19 years of age with a nine month old daughter named, Meron. Over a brief period of time, Abebe looked into Meseret’s life and job as a shoe shiner, documenting the ebbs and flows of her daily routine. With a profession that is primarily male-dominated, Abebe’s work explores the struggles and gripping reality of survival and Meseret’s will to provide for her child.
You can view more of Hilina’s work at her website here.
