The Catalan photographer Toni Swords (Barcelona, 1969) was murdered in Ethiopia final Monday when he was attacked in a “incident complicated” which remains to be beneath investigation. Founder and director of the journey company Rift Valleyprimarily based in Sabadell, Espadas was filming a particular concerning the Mursi tribune for ‘Companions world wide’a cultural program on Channel 13, through the assault, the Chilean tv community itself reported.
In keeping with mentioned channel, two armed younger males “they crossed in entrance of the truck” and shot at it, thus killing Espadas, 55 years. Nonetheless, the communications workplace assured AFP that the tribe was not concerned within the incidenthowever that the assault “was recorded as soon as they had been leaving the world, after having completed the day, within the means again“. As for the opposite members of the workforce of this system made by the manufacturing firm MkZetaamongst whom had been the Chilean journalist Francisco “Pancho” Saavedra and the actor, additionally Chilean, Jorge Zabaletathese turned out unhurt and the authorities are already managing their return to Chile.
Promoter of accountable tourism
As laid out in your web sitethe place he additionally shared his journalistic work via photographic stories, Espadas started “very younger” with two of his nice passions: journeys and the Pictures. Each led him to embark on his first African journey, to Maliwhich might awaken an curiosity in different cultures that years later would translate right into a second go to, this time to Ethiopia.
The nation positioned within the Horn of Africa would ceaselessly mark the lifetime of this photographer, who years later would discovered the company in 2015. Rift Valley Expeditions. Earlier than, it had already launched different initiatives that promoted responsable tourismhowever after this step his work prolonged to Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon or the nations of the Gulf of Guinea.
Nonetheless, Espadas’ work would give attention to the Olmo Valleyan space in Ethiopian territory the place he managed to determine “very deep private relationships”particularly with ethnicity Hamer. This hyperlink, in flip, allowed to {photograph} and get to know the approach to life of this group up shut.
Philanthropic Labor
He himself said in an interview with El Mundo in 2023 that he was fascinated by pure richness, ethnographic or panorama that encompassed the nice African continent. Moreover, he emphasised that there have been many locations to find past Kenya o TanzaniaHe additionally proposed routes via his journey company. Angola, Nigeria, Benin o Cameroonlocations that aren’t normally “within the checklist of nations to journey to“however they nonetheless supply a unmatched expertise.
The work philanthropic of the Catalan information additionally led him to collaborate with a number of organizations all through his life. With out going any additional, in his final Instagram publish Espadas celebrated the provision of ingesting water for the holi, a minority ethnic group from Benin. “On the final prospecting journey to the nation, we noticed ‘in situ’ the solidarity initiative promoted by Throughout Africa NGO, working within the village of Recover from it (Onigbolo) at full capability,” he shared along with his greater than 15.000 followers just a few days earlier than his loss of life.
‘Fixer’ of ‘Planeta Calleja’ and ‘Desafío Extremo’
For just a few years, the vacationer information’s exercise had centered on performing as a ‘fixer’ for the manufacturing of stories, documentaries and tv packages whose goal was to review and get to know these African peoples and cultures. On this means, Espadas was answerable for advising journalists and manufacturing corporations, which additionally led him to work with MkZeta on the filming of ‘Companions world wide’.
Likewise, Espadas repeatedly collaborated with the tv packages of ‘Planet Calleja’ y ‘Excessive problem’each introduced by the Leonese mountaineer Jesus Calleja.
