tribes

This series is taken from my time with people from the Baduy, Mentawai, and Sasak tribes on the islands of Java, Siberut, and Lombok in Indonesia. I lived with them for a week each and managed to gain a small insight into their ways of life.

The diverse culture of Myanmar is part of the country’s unique identity. I was honored to visit different tribes that amazed me by the variety of their traditions, beliefs, and practices. What I witnessed in Myanmar exceeded my expectations even though I had done my research before I traveled.

Photographer Jimmy Nelson has spent over 3 decades traveling around the world and taking photos of people and places. He's best known for his portraits of the disappearing tribes of the world. In the 6.5-minute video above (note: there's a bit of nudity), Nelson shares 7 lessons he has learned from his years of photography.

Photographer Jimmy Nelson spent three years between 2010 and 2013 visiting some of the indigenous cultures found in the furthest corners of our planet. His goal was to capture portraits of the disappearing people groups and to preserve glimpses of their rites, customs, and traditions -- photos that he hopes will remain even if these cultures fade away.

A few days ago, we shared photographer Sasha Leahovcenco's inspirational project in which he photographed people in Siberia who had never had their photo taken. Photographer Jimmy Nelson's series/book Before They Pass Away is similar in that he, too, is probably photographing people who have never seen a camera.

But the project takes on a deeper, more tragic meaning as well. You see, as the name suggests, Before They Pass Away is about capturing photographs of ancient tribes and cultures that, before long, may no longer exist to be photographed.