The Ethiopian Mursi tribe turned their Botox equivalent into profit.

Tourists now flock to Ethiopia's Omo region to gawk at Mursi women with their clay lip plates. 

Originally created as a mark of beauty, now Ethiopia's Omo region Mursi women have turned their lip plates into a tourist attraction.  Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

Over the past 14 years I've traveled to the Omo, I've seen the Mursi turn their tortuous marks of beauty increasingly into Disney-like tourist attractions. "You, you, you. Photograph me." Now it costs 10 Birr a shutter click.

Watching the spectacle on my visit last January, I couldn't help but wonder how many of the camera-toting tourist's use Botox or other beauty treatments. 

It just seems to me that the Mursi have turned their Botox equivalent into profit.

Here a Mursi woman puts the finishing touches on a new clay lip disk.   Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

After shaping the clay disks, these Mursi women fire the plates in an open fire.  Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

  Since the Mursi have become such Disney-like tourist attractions, capturing casual relaxed photographs like these of women actually creating their lip disks would be very difficult. Today, it's like holding a greased pig at the state fair.  Now it is all about the money for each  shutter click.  Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

Besides the lip disks, Mursi women also pluck eye lashes to beautify themselves. On another note, when I took these photographs in 2001, it was my understanding that the women were not suppose to appear in front of foreigners without their disks inserted. Obviously, spending 5 weeks in the area made me less of a stranger.           Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

I can't imagine plucking my eye lashes.  And here you can clearly see what the stretched lip looks like without an inserted disk.    Ethiopia, Omo Valley, Mursi tribe, Africa.

All images copyright ©Janis Miglavs 2015