Ben Wilhelmi

Arusha, street shots

 

 

 

 

 

Random pictures, South Sudan

 

Bloody selfies have hit everywhere…

 

This henna work indicates a married woman.

 

 

 

 

 

lake Natron, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, street photography

 

Notre-Dame and the Esmeralda of the day. It seems very fashionable for Japanese couples to get a wedding photo session done in Paris.

 

This girl is in dire need of sun!

 

Security threat was on a low level, great.

 

 

34C one day, harsh sun.

 

At the Beaubourg eyesore.

 

 

Shot with a Leica M8

portraits in B/W, South Sudan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street photography, Grand Place, Brussels

 

The Grand Place in Brussels. Some stunning buildings to say the least.

 

 

 

What a mix of patterns.

 

 

Shot with a Leica M8.

portraits, South Sudan

 

 

 

 

 

 

A typical body guard when I drop a VIP or two.

 

This is not a British royal hat but a slab of meat!

B/W aerials, lake Natron

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, portraits in B/W

 

 

 

 

 

South, random pictures

 

A soldier walks on school books. Rebels have attacked that village, tore down and torched everything including school and a women’s center.

 

A typical outfit for many Sudanese men.

 

Honorary or retired policeman I suppose.

 

On a brighter note, things happen in Juba.

 

Rubber straps are efficient but a good pair of hands are even better to hold overloaded things.

 

 

Interesting haircut.

Paris, street photography

 

Let’s have a thought for those who are trapped in Middle Age countries or surrounded by homophobic lunatics.

 

 

 

 

 

Selfie moron…

 

 

Brussels, street shots

 

 

Beggar and daughter in the Grand Place.

 

 

 

Belgium where comic strips are extremely popular. Many walls have been painted after comic celebs.

 

After the after party?

Security in Ayod, South Sudan

 

there is that place in South Sudan, Ayod, where the situation is ever changing. The airstrip and the adjacent military camp are run by the government troops. A few miles away lay the rebels.

The village nearby and the cell phone towers have been destroyed, burnt and razed to the ground a few months ago and nobody has dared to come back.

Whenever we land there we receive, in theory, the latest news about the situation. So pilots can choose from which direction to approach the airstrip.

Well a few days ago the commander was jumping around the aircraft waiting for me to shut down the engine. He was really nervous, I learnt the rebels had shifted their positions…and I just overflew them, at low altitude and slow airspeed, the worst combo! I checked the aircraft for bullet holes but found none, pfew.

There is a chick I need to spank once back in Juba, she forgot to pass on the information.

Next time, I’ll come overhead the airstrip, drop a wing and spiral down tight to landing, Baghdad style. Too bad for my passengers’ stomachs and fear.

While the soldiers were offloading the aircraft, I heard the usual gunshots in the distance. Dozens of soldiers always come around and keep an eye open without various weaponry.

 

These are school books! What a pity. It also shows the intellectual level of those rebels…

 

 

This soldier has enough bullets to hold a siege…though at second glance, those bullets are too big for his Israeli weapon. He must be a helper on a machine gun too.

I haven't managed to get a picture of the rocket propelled grenade launchers. Always impressive.

 

Recently we get the royal treatment: 2 of these vehicles welcome us.

Dar es Salaam, street photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portraits on films, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Shot with my good old Nikon F3 in 2002.

Street photography, Brussels

 

 

 

 

 

 

USAid in Pibor, South Sudan

Pibor is a remote place where my company brings food for an Indian battalion of UN peace keepers. World Food Program used to have a few large tents for food distribution but are now derelict. To me it is one of those places where I wish I won’t be let down by my aircraft…

 

Last week there was some unusual activity: the USAid charity group had sent 2 semi trailers to distribute food to the local community. The rains have arrived and the idea is to plan some food distribution before the dirt track get flooded. 

 

Those bags contain sorghum or lentils. 50 kg each and the thin women carry them back home! 50kg! About 110 lbs! I haven’t spotted any man carrying one of them… battalion

This lorry was being refilled for further distribution in the bush.

 

Cans of cooking oil was also available.

 

Grandmas are also expected to carry the 50kg burden. Notice the piercing in lower lip and nose, local style.

 

 

Grandma is keeping an eye on her prize.

 

It takes 4 persons to lift such a bag on top of the carrier.

 

 

The distribution desk…