Cyndy B. Waters | Bardugo, A Suri Boy at the Cattle Camp, Ethiopia

Cyndy first traveled to Ethiopia in 2023 and was amazed with all the different people groups there and their willingness to be photographed. She returned several times traveling to many different parts of the country photographing the people, wildlife, and landscapes. She is working on a collection, “The Ethiopian”, which she plans to publish in early 2027.

The most remote tribe I visited in Ethiopia is the Suri, or Surma tribe. Like many tribes, the cattle are extremely important. Not only do they represent money as it is what they trade and pay with, but also the degree of individual family wealth and the value of a bride. The cattle camp is where young boys first have roles within the tribe and learn discipline and responsibility. Several young men and boys of varied ages live in the camp and each age group has jobs which are important to the health and welfare of the cattle. Bardugo is among the second group of boys who are responsible for starting fires in the morning to smoke away the flies and ward off other insects as well as get the cattle warmed up and ready to move. They do not want the fires for flame, only to smoke. This is very important as the cattle are in large groups lying close together, and fire would be very dangerous to them. The boys coat their faces and bodies with ash to also keep away the flies, decorate themselves, and protect their skin.

BIO:

1976 Graduate-Art Institute of Atlanta.

Cyndy worked throughout the United States after graduation with jobs such as Photographer for the State of Tennessee and Official Photographer for the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville TN. With a great list of references from the Fair in 1983, Cyndy moved to Washington D.C. and operated Paine & Waters Photography specializing in political PR on Capitol Hill and documentary photograph. She has photographed 5 U.S. Presidents. While photographing the opening of Dollywood in 1986, Cyndy met a Los Angeles film crew, Johnson/Klein Productions. They invited her to join their production company. She made the move and enjoyed 6 years of working in LA photographing many of the people from the “Woodstock Generation” such Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Woopie Goldberg and many other celebs.

She often photographed children in challenging situations, using her images to expose their needs. Cyndy traveled to Kenya on a spiritual journey in 1995. She was overwhelmed by the lack of education, food, and physical care many women and children faced causing her to step out from behind her camera and develop The Orbit Village Project, Inc. In July 2025, the project celebrated its 30th birthday with many guests from Tennessee and the USA traveling there for the celebration. Today, the project is quite large and feeds, cares for, and educates approximately five hundred children and youth, and focuses on helping hundreds of families survive and rebuild from a broken generation. She works between Sevierville and Nairobi, Kenya for most of the year and takes a few photographic trips annually.