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| Drokpa male; Dha Village; Kashmire |
I became aware of British photographer Jimmy Nelson and his fascinating project, Before They Pass Away, a few years ago. At the time, there wasn't a book, and there were only a few scant photos online. His project is to photograph the tribes whose ways of life are threatened or near extinct. I simply adore other cultures. I have always wanted to know all about them, to see their photos, to learn of their culture, customs, languages, spiritual beliefs, rituals, simply everything. So, it comes as no surprise that I fell in love with this project from the moment I first heard about it.
A few years ago, Nelson was only showing, online, a few photos from five different tribes. Now there are numerous photos from twenty nine tribes around the world. It is an amazing look into cultures that one will never really see on their own. And that's the kicker here; this is more than beautiful photos, this is something that takes you out of your everyday life of computers and drive thru coffees and film theatres. A part of your life that you assume is how everyone else lives, or at least in part, you are somewhat similar to other peoples in the world.
But here are twenty nine different groups of people who do not live in the world that you know. They live in the world that your ancestors knew. These people do not work in office buildings wearing three piece suits. They do not regularly visit coffee houses. They do not see films. They do not own television sets nor go out to see films. These groups have changed very little since the beginning of their existences. It is an amazing thing to actually realize, to think about. These people live in places that are surrounded by war or divisions of countries or very remote locations; sometimes all three. These are not groups of people you might just happen upon. To see them for yourself, you would need to seek them out and go to great lengths to reach them.
When you realize this, you can begin to put everything into context. In your country, to think of seeing any form of celebrity, up close, seems tantamount to impossible. But you would have more of a chance to happen upon a celebrity than one of these groups of people. You are about as likely to ever come face to face with these peoples, as you are, well, a unicorn, a person from another planet, or a fictional character.
For 95% of you who might be reading this, this is what it amounts to; you will never be in the same vicinity as these people, much less be able to actually talk to them. It doesn't mean it couldn't happen, but for the average person in the world, it will not.
Of course these groups of peoples have had dealings with people outside of their culture group before Nelson showed up. Most of them are not strictly out of contact with other groups of peoples. Some welcome people into their villages. Some would just rather you stay away, unless like Nelson, you received permission from them. Some, like the Drokpa peoples of Kashmir have five villages, with three of those villages completely closed to outsiders. Some tribes live in the middle of all the action, with loggers, military or wildlife groups constantly coming upon their villages and encroaching on their spaces. Others are so far removed in their remote locations, they have less of that to deal with.
But no matter where the tribes are located, they are all facing the loss of their cultures to varying degrees by outside peoples. For some it's the government of the country they are located in telling them to stop doing something they've been doing for thousands of years, like the wife swapping, public kissing of the Drokpa's. For others, like tribes in the Amazon, the forest is being ripped away and they are losing their lands. For others, like several of the tribes in Africa, their hunting ways are being diminished, because of game preserves.
I'll admit, that big realization did not really hit me until I saw the portrait of that unnamed Drokpa male. There are numerous portraits of very beautiful people in the project, but personally to me, the man in the portrait above was, by far, the most beautiful. He might just be the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my life, so far. I'm not even sure if he's simply beautiful as is, or if the beflowered headdress, intricately awesome silver jewelry, and fluffy goat cape make him that much more beautiful. What it did make me aware of, however, is that this is far stranger than simply seeing a photo of a beautiful male celebrity or seeing said male celebrity as an equally beautiful fictitious character. Tom Hiddleston and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, come to mind.
If I got myself to San Diego for Comic Con, I would have a very good chance of seeing Tom Hiddleston, up close, with my own eyes. I might even be lucky enough to see him portray the character of Loki. This scenario actually becomes conceivable, compared to say being on set for a Thor or Avengers film, or being in the right place at the right time to bump into the man.
But the Drokpa man pictured above is so far removed from my life, or from anyone's life really, that he might as well live on Neptune. Suddenly, it makes him seem even more fascinating than your general celebrity, and also that much more intangible. I'm suddenly aware that this man, for all intents and purposes, IS a magical unicorn. An average person will never see him, never touch him to see if he even exists, never speak with him. Sure there is this portrait of him, but it means as much as a photograph taken on the moon. We know that the moon exists, just as we know this man exists, but you and I will never get in rocket ship, much less step foot on the moon, just as we will never trek high into the Himalaya's to find this village and see this man for ourselves.
Of course, I would never accord that everyone should rush to Dha village, or any other place in the world to see remote tribes of peoples. They are people. They do not want to be gawked at like an exhibit, some trivial curiosity. Which, this, only yields more thoughts; does this project only make these people into a trivial curiosity? Will it bring about improved livelihoods for these tribes? People, generally do not mind being known, being seen for who they are; but is this an underlying objective to the project?
I, personally, had little to no knowledge what-so-ever of the tribes featured in this project. While I delight in knowledge and have a great respect in my curiosity of all peoples, I now wonder where this new knowledge lies. Have I gained a very great thing in this new knowledge or was this something I, and others, really not need to recognize? If one can not help these people achieve what they want; that is to keep their ways of life intact, then to what end have we really obtained this new information? Simply just to know? Is that enough? Is that what these tribes want? I wonder what their thoughts on this would be.
These ponderings might very well be frivolous. They may or may not pertain to you, in the way you think things through. I am just writing a post and submitting my personal thoughts. No matter what Nelsons project makes you feel, anyone could agree that in its entirely it is absolutely beautiful. I would still encourage you to view the photos and read the information for yourself, which you can do so by clicking the link below.
>>Before They Pass Away
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