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DOZENS OF TRIBES around the world have managed to survive outside of the modern world, though their existence is perpetually at risk.
British photographer Jimmy Nelson tried to record them as they exist today, traveling to meet 31 tribes from 2009 to 2012.
“My dream had always been to preserve our world’s tribes through my photography,” Nelson told Business Insider.
“Their lifestyle is one of much more purity and beauty than ‘ours’. It is free of corruption and greed. I want the tribes to be proud of their authenticity and defend it in order to preserve it.
I feel that we must try to let the tribes co-exist in these modern times, by supporting their cause, respecting their habitats, recording their pride and helping them to pass on their traditions to generations to come.
Nelson shared photos of some tribes, from the Tsaatan people of northern Mongolia to the Maasai people of Kenya.
For the rest, check out his website and his book, Before They Pass Away.
When Nelson first made contact with the tribes, he left his cameras behind. After staying and talking with the tribe for several days, Nelson would ask about photographing them.
All images: Jimmy Nelson BV published by teNeues
The Nenets of Siberia (pictured) hunt and herd reindeer.
Melanesians (pictured) occupy parts of a number of Pacific islands.
In order to communicate, Nelson had to use translators. He says that approaching the tribes with respect made it easy for the locals to trust them.
He says that visiting tribes living in extremely cold climates, like these Kazakh men, was “very intense, because they are surviving on the edge of the planet”.
When Nelson took his gloves off to take this photo of three Kazakh men, his hands froze to the camera in the -20 degree weather. Nelson was crying in pain and a local woman broke custom, putting his hands under her jacket until he returned feeling. It was an extraordinary example of their kindness, he says.
The natives of the Mustang region of Nepal are traditionally animal herders.
When Nelson first met the Tsaatan people, they invited him to drink with them. After a night of drinking, Nelson struggled to pee outside the teepee in −40 degree weather. He peed on himself, attracting a stampede of reindeer (who are attracted to salt). The reindeer began licking him and the group started laughing hysterically.
Nelson, who used to be an advertising photographer, says that he wanted to make the tribes look “monumental” and “important”. The men of New Guinea’s Huli people (pictured) wear elaborate headdresses and ceremonial wigs when they go to war.
The Maori people of New Zealand recently received control of large tracts of forested land as redress for breaches by the government of a 19th-Century treaty.
The Yali people live in Papua, Indonesia. Their territory is isolated from outside civilization due to challenging geography.
The Samburu people of Kenya are a gerontocracy, meaning that the elders control the tribe. They have a monopoly on marriages and herds.
Himba people live in Northern Namibia and Angola. They are semi-nomadic and pastoral, known for covering themselves in otjize, a mixture of fat and ochre, which gives their skin a reddish tint.
The Maasai people of Kenya are well regarded for their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands.
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A competition that we as of yet are not used to hearing about but fair play to all those to enter.
I Second that.. It keeps dreams alive.
Doesn’t Szilvia have a lovely bottom
but they all have lovely bottoms
And she has a cracking pair of tires too..
bit sexist i think they are all wheely nice
love it
If she rolls over your foot with that wheelchair she won’t have a leg to stand on!
Sick, Sick, Sick.
Jesus Peter, it’s a disability not a sickness
Oh Dear. Super corny.
I think you mean discriminatory.
Robert you should be the bigger man here and just walk away
Robert you’re on to me about spelling, hahaha
First prize is dinner with Stephen hawking’s
Stephen Hawking’s what? His cat? His Wife?
If your going to make a joke (albeit a terrible, insensitive one), it’d be nice if you got his name right.
Not only did you spell it wrong, but you mistakenly (I assume) attributed something invisible to him. You might think your better than him because you can walk, but had you performed even reasonably well in primary school you would not have made the mistake you made above. He should pity you, not the other way around.
*you’re
I love iPhones.
The winner phoned Stephen to make the arrangements but kept getting his answering machine.
Ok everybody give up, already.
lol! thank the stars for pedantic antics on this s’ite. ffs. now look what I. ve done.
Don’t be so serious It’s only a bit of “craic”
The winner of this contest is hardly guaranteed a long standing career in modelling. Unless they change the name of the stage to a ‘cat ramp’…
;-)
Jesus! Just how many bad jokes and ‘play on words’ can you get out of a wheelchair story. Scraping the barrel there a bit guys….
Slideshow please?
Is this wheels how you guys roll?
Wheely……damned predictive text!
Jesus! Just how many bad jokes and ‘play on words’ can you get out of a wheelchair story. Scraping the bwarrel there a bit guys….
have your say