Hans Silvester is appreciated for his ability to blend in with his subjects, to gain their trust, and for his capacity to invest the necessary time to capture the image that tells a story. His work embodies the very essence of the photographer, namely his role in transmitting a heritage destined to disappear; he has traversed the last 60 years preserving, through his work, a heritage that is threatened or already lost.
Among his favorite themes are ecology, the defense of the planet, and photographs of animals and simple everyday objects. He is world-renowned for his long-term work with the tribes of southern Ethiopia—the peoples of the Omo—documenting their ancestral customs just before civilization catches up with them.
