I traveled to PNG August 12-28, 2013 to experience and capture with my camera one of the most exotic places on the planet. It contains every type of ecosystem from tropical grasslands to cloud forests to savannas, mangroves and swamp forest. It has astounding wildlife and birds, coral reefs, orchids and one fifth of the world’s human languages (1100). It is a primitive society, much of it emerging from the Stone Age in the twentieth century. It is tribe and male dominated, and the culture is based on a history of war and revenge, and violence occurs with startling regularity. The people are quiet and friendly to visitors and like to be photographed.
And what a photographic opportunity. Tribes have unique dress, music and dance, and each is spectacular. Tattoos, painted faces, mud and oil body coatings, use of animal bones, human hair wigs, and, most importantly, headdresses made from the incredible feathers of birds-of-paradise. 38 of the 42 species of bird-of-paradise are found only on the island of New Guinea. The tribes pay homage to these spectacular birds by mimicking them in ritual dress and dance routines.
This is the first of four slideshows, one for each location visited.
Each year 70-80 tribes gather in Mt. Hagen in the Highlands of PNG to compete in the Sing Sing, a contest of costume, song and dance, which was created by the Australians decades ago to try to replace warfare among the tribes.
We saw the dress rehearsal on the eve of the Sing Sing, and the next morning visited the area where the tribes painted themselves and dressed prior to the event. Photographing the tribes as they entered the arena was exhilarating and exhausting. The Mt. Hagen Sing Sing was the single most spectacular event I have ever experienced in my life.
