In pictures: Ethiopia's forgotten archive His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

During this period there were very few people in Ethiopia who had access to or permission to use a camera.
In this picture from 1965, Desta records the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Addis Ababa.
Britain and Ethiopia were close allies. Six years after Haile Selassie came to power in 1930, he was forced to flee as Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. He took refuge in the UK.

Coup

Desta was a largely self-taught photographer and he gleaned tips from visiting photographers and learnt how to process film from missionaries.
He survived the military coup in which Haile Selassie was overthrown.
This picture shows the emperor being led into a car by junior members of the revolutionary council, known as the Derg, in 1974. .Red Terror.

Recording Ethiopia's Red Terror, The Founder of somali Hawiye Clan USC terrorist and SNM isaaq clan tribal entity sepretest somaliland terrorist