Dan Eldon

Dan Eldon. Morir para contar: la desaparición de un gran fotógrafo en Somalia

Born in London of English and American parents, Eldon relocated to Nairobi, Kenya, with his family when he was seven. A scrapbook assignment after a class trip to visit Masai tribesmen became the first of 17 extraordinary journals that he filled with photographs, drawings, personal observations and objects culled from an adventurous life. Eldon received his first photo credits at 14, while accompanying his journalist mother on newspaper interviews. Largely self-taught as a photographer, he worked in New York at 17 as a design intern for Mademoiselle magazine before returning to Africa to embark on a series of intrepid safaris.

Eldon’s many destinations are recorded in his journals with a wide range of styles and moods. “Constantly his pages asked and answered questions,” his mother, Kathy, explains. “The power of good versus evil, the role of violence in society, and the effect of war on humanity were recurring themes for him.”

After hearing rumors of famine in Somalia, Eldon went north to investigate. He was among the first to report on a situation that would “trigger the conscience of the world.”

During his time in Somalia, Eldon described seeing a gravely injured young girl, who, he was told, would never the less survive. “It made me think of the whole country,” he wrote. “Somalia will survive, but what kind of life is it for a people who have been so wounded. I don’t know how these experiences have changed me, but I feel different.”