David van Reen (1969-2015). The photo book Streetdreamers is published posthumously as a tribute to ‘his family’, the streetdreamers in Ethiopia.
David was a sportsman. Working as a trainer in Kenya and Ethiopia, he encountered the people living on the streets on a daily basis: the elderly, children, the disabled, the blind and many more. He decided to do something about it. With the help of his parents and friends, he founded the Lalibela Foundation in the town of Lalibela, known for its rock-hewn
churches. At the same time, he began processing what he saw and experienced by writing, photographing and painting.
Several of his books were published between 2008 and 2015, starting with his impressive book of photographs Het land van de verbrande gezichten (The Land of the Burned Faces) and two novels about life in Africa, which he had come to know well.
In the novel Engelen der wrake (The Avenging Angel), David confronts the reader with the tragic living conditions of people in the Kenyan slums, a harsh, ruthless world plagued by vicious gangs, where residents draw hope from friendship and the trust they have in each other.
Anbessa’s dochter (Anbessa’s Daughter), a vivid narrative about people on the lowest rung of society in Ethiopia, is based on the everyday realities of the main characters, who despite everything try to make something beautiful out of their lives.
The portraits and landscapes in Het land van de verbrande gezichten reflect his vision of the people of Ethiopia, their culture, their life within family clans, and their religion. In Streetdreamers, he portrays life on the streets: there are many thousands of homeless people in capital city, Addis Ababa.
