Current Exhibit
Andarge Asfaw - Ethiopia from the Heart
Through September 21, 2008
85 Avenue A at Third Street - Downtown Turners Falls, Massachusetts
Andargé Asfaw, award-winning photographer, educator and author was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His powerful portraits and luminous landscapes have been exhibited in several exhibitions and are held in private collections. Asfaw’s new coffee-table book, Ethiopia from the Heart, was released in June 2007.
Andargé Asfaw is the first Ethiopian photographer to publish a fine-art photography book about Ethiopia. This profound visual essay, centers on the striking splendor of nature and it's inextricable link to faith and to culture. Much of the verdant forest that canopied Ethiopia is disappearing at an alarming rate. The destructive cycle of deforestation, flooding and soil erosion is permanently destroying the land, the animals, and the vegetation. Asfaw hopes that this passionate endeavor will create awareness about Ethiopia and the current global environmental crisis.
Ethiopia loses 2 billion tons of topsoil every year because of deforestation. Massive soil erosion into the Nile River system is damaging the ecosystem. Each copy of Ethiopia from the Heart sold funds tree planting projects in Ethiopia. Asfaw works with Trees for the Future, in partnership with Greener Ethiopia, which to date has already planted 2 million trees in Ethiopia. The book project was a stepping-stone for Asfaw’s greater vision. Asfaw and a team of design professionals formed The Mechale Group whose mission is to facilitate environmental stewardship through fundraising, art, education, alternative technologies, tree planting, and photo-ecotourism beginning with Ethiopia. The Mechale Group hopes to restore the Earth, one village at a time.
Asfaw has maintained a commercial photography studio, F/STOP STUDIO, in the Washington, DC area for over 25 years. His work includes imagery from the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Asfaw’s work has appeared in African Business, American Enterprise, Cigar Aficionado, Currents Magazine, Esquire, Fine Homes, The New Republic, Newsweek, Space News, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post, as well as several international publications. His clients have included the American Diabetes Association, Black and Decker, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Federal Publications, Savings and Community Bankers, WorldSpace, World Wildlife Fund, and XM Satellite Radio. Photos have aired on NBC, The Oprah Show and CNN. Asfaw has donated his time and artwork to organizations working for the greater good such as Art for Charity, Brhan Ethiopia, Ethiopian Children’s’ Fund, Foundation for Prader Willi Research, Girls Gotta Run Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Tesfa in Los Angeles, and The Fistula Foundation. Asfaw teaches digital and traditional photography at the Washington School of Photography, The Art League School, The Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts, as well as venues in the Washington Metro area. In addition, he leads half-day, full-day and extended photo tours in the U.S. and abroad. Asfaw is a graduate of The Hallmark Institute of Photography.
To order a signed copy of Ethiopia from the Heart, purchase fine-art prints or to find out about upcoming exhibitions and book signings, please go to www.ethiopiafromtheheart.com