Before they pass away...

[Horuseus]

Before They Pass Away. Photographer Jimmy Nelson traveled around the earth to try and document the world’s most secluded tribes before they vanish forever.

The purity of humanity exists. It is there in the mountains, the ice fields, the jungle, along the rivers and in the valleys. Jimmy Nelson found the last tribesmen and observed them. He smiled and drank their mysterious brews before taking out his camera. He shared what real people share: vibrations, invisible but palpable. He adjusted his antenna to the same frequency as theirs. As trust grew, a shared understanding of the mission developed: the world must never forget the way things were.

There is a pure beauty in their goals and family ties, their belief in gods and nature, and their will to do the right thing in order to be taken care of when their time comes. Whether in Papua New Guinea or in Kazakhstan, in Ethiopia or in Siberia, tribes are the last resorts of natural authenticity.

‘’In 2009, I planned to become a guest of 31 secluded and visually unique tribes. I wanted to witness their time-honoured traditions, join in their rituals and discover how the rest of the world is threatening to change their way of life forever. Most importantly, I wanted to create an ambitious aesthetic photographic document that would stand the test of time. A body of work that would be an irreplaceable ethnographic record of a fast disappearing world.

Elegant and evocative portraits created with a 4x5 camera. The detail that is attained by using such large negatives would provide an extraordinary view into the emotional and spiritual lives of the last indigenous peoples of the world. At the same time, it would glorify their varying and unique cultural creativity with their painted faces, scarified bodies, jewellery, extravagant hairstyles and ritual language."

http://www.beforethey.com/

[Plenum]

yeah, I saw this a little while ago.

it was also a tv show (or at least they wanted to get it aired) and I saw the first episode on youtube, but it since seems to have been taken down.

that said, an element of 'romanticization' of the tribe and indigenous cultures can set in, reflecting some unconscious biases towards our own current societal configuration.

as with all novelty, we hone in on the aspects we find 'desirable', not realising that all elements, in their way, are distorted.

is there purity in the primitive tribe? perhaps. is there beauty in the primitive tribe? perhaps. is there both purity and beauty in our own society? perhaps.

where free will is maximised, there you will find the greatest freedom (and latitude) of the creator.