These photographs come from Homage to Humanity, the 2018 book by British-born, Amsterdam-based photographer Jimmy Nelson. It is a large-format portrait project that shows indigenous and traditional communities in their ceremonial dress, posed in dramatic landscapes, from the Marquesas Islands and Papua New Guinea to Bhutan, Mongolia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Patagonia. According to Wikipedia, the book contains more than 400 photographs of 30 cultures, together with interviews, maps and travel notes.
Nelson, born in 1967, spent much of his childhood in Africa, Asia and South America, and at 17 crossed Tibet on foot, a journey whose photographs launched his career. His first major book, Before They Pass Away (2009), portrayed more than 35 communities and became a bestseller, but it was also sharply criticised, as we explain below. Homage to Humanity shifted the emphasis from "vanishing tribes" toward the journey, the people's own words, and the idea that these cultures have something to teach everyone about identity and belonging. He also set up a foundation in 2016 to support cultural expression projects. More about his work: jimmynelson.com.
Below, the 21 pictures are grouped by region, each with a short note on the place and people shown.
Polynesia, Melanesia and New Zealand
Hakamou'i, Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas are a remote group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, and Ua Pou is famous for its needle-like basalt peaks. Marquesan culture is known for its bold tattooing, which was suppressed under colonial rule and has been revived since the late 20th century. The men here wear traditional ornaments and hold carved clubs on a rock spur above the valley.
Vaioa River, Atuona, Hiva Oa
Atuona is the main village of Hiva Oa, also in the Marquesas, and is best known abroad as the burial place of painter Paul Gauguin and singer Jacques Brel. Horses are still widely used on the islands' steep trails. The group stands in the river wearing leaf and fibre costumes, with the mountains behind them in cloud.
Rah Lava Island, Torba Province, Vanuatu
Torba is Vanuatu's northernmost province, made up of the Banks and Torres islands. Vanuatu has well over 100 local languages for a population of about 300,000, one of the highest language densities in the world. The three men, painted with white designs, stand on driftwood on a white-sand beach.
Te Aroha Mikaka and Sky, Haruru Falls, New Zealand
Haruru Falls is near Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, where the Treaty of Waitangi between Māori chiefs and the British Crown was signed in 1840. This portrait shows a Māori family across generations, some wearing cloaks and traditional garments and holding taiaha (fighting staffs). Māori language and arts have seen a strong revival over recent decades.
Huli wigmen, Ambua Falls, Tari Valley, Papua New Guinea
The Huli of Papua New Guinea's highlands are known for their ceremonial wigs, traditionally made from the wearer's own hair grown over many months. Bright yellow face paint, feathers and cassowary bones complete the dress. They are one of the country's largest ethnic groups, and their sing-sing performances are a major cultural event.
Likekaipia people, Ponowi village, Jalibu Mountains
The caption places this group in Ponowi village in the Ialibu (Jalibu) area of the Papua New Guinea highlands. The men wear tall feather headdresses and red and white face paint, standing in mist against a pale sky. Papua New Guinea alone has more than 800 languages, and dress like this differs from valley to valley.
Uramana clan, Tufi, Papua New Guinea
Tufi, in Oro Province on PNG's north-east coast, is known for its fjord-like inlets, formed by ancient volcanic activity. The Uramana clan members are posed on outrigger canoes below a waterfall, wearing feather crowns and tapa (bark cloth). Canoes remain the main way to travel between many coastal villages here.
Mount Bosavi waterfall, Papua New Guinea
Mount Bosavi is an extinct volcano in the rainforests of PNG's Southern Highlands, and its crater was surveyed by a scientific expedition in 2009 that reported many new species. The people of the area wear dramatic fan-shaped headdresses and leaf skirts for ceremonies. Here they stand on fallen logs in a rushing stream.
China, Mongolia and the Himalaya
Cormorant fishers, Yangshuo, China
On the Li River near Yangshuo, fishermen once trained cormorants to dive for fish, with a loose snare on the bird's neck so it could not swallow large catches. The tradition is now kept alive mainly for visitors and photographers. The karst peaks behind them are among China's most famous landscapes.
Miao village near Liupanshui, Guizhou
The Miao are one of China's largest ethnic minorities, and Guizhou province is their heartland. Some Miao communities around Liupanshui are known for large hair ornaments wrapped with long tresses, worn for festivals. The women here wear embroidered and pleated clothes, a craft passed down from mother to daughter.
Kazakh eagle hunters, Bayan-Ölgii, Mongolia
Bayan-Ölgii, in Mongolia's far west, is home to a mostly Kazakh population, some of whom still hunt foxes and hares with trained golden eagles. The birds are taken young and released back into the wild after years of service. A Golden Eagle Festival is held in the province each autumn, and it has drawn growing numbers of foreign visitors.
Mask dancers near Paro, Bhutan
Masked dances called cham are performed at Bhutan's tsechu festivals, which honour Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism to the region. The dancers wear deer and other animal masks and silk costumes. The monastery clinging to the cliff in the background appears to be Paro Taktsang, the "Tiger's Nest".
Paro Pass, Bhutan
Prayer flags strung across mountain passes are believed to carry blessings on the wind. Here performers in bright costumes stand among them high above the valley. Bhutan limits mass tourism with a daily visitor fee, which helps protect places like this.
Women with perak headdresses, Thikse Monastery, Ladakh
The perak is a long headdress studded with turquoise, traditionally worn by Ladakhi women and passed down through families as a sign of wealth and status. Thikse Monastery, near Leh, is one of Ladakh's largest Buddhist monasteries. The women pose in a snowfield, wrapped in thick wool against the high-altitude cold.
Sadhus on the Ganges, Haridwar, India
Haridwar, where the Ganges leaves the Himalayan foothills, is one of Hinduism's holiest cities and a host of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage. The men are sadhus, ascetics who have renounced ordinary life, their bodies smeared with ash and decorated with marigold garlands. Bathing in the river is believed to wash away sins.
Angge village, Upper Mustang, Nepal
Upper Mustang, the former Kingdom of Lo, is a high, dry region of Nepal close to Tibet, where visitors still need a special permit. Its culture is closely tied to Tibetan Buddhism, as the painted chortens (stupas) show. The women look out over a canyon carved by the Kali Gandaki river.
East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia
Samburu people, Kenya
The Samburu are semi-nomadic herders of northern Kenya, closely related to the Maasai and speaking a Maa language. Their beadwork, red cloth and spears are part of a dress code that signals age and status. They depend on cattle, goats and camels in a dry and often drought-hit region.
Ndoto Mountains, Kenya
The Ndoto range rises from the dry plains of northern Kenya, where herding communities move with their camels in search of grazing and water. The group in red wraps and beaded collars stands among their animals beside a rainwater pool. Camels are essential here because they can go far longer without water than cattle.
Maasai near Tarangire, Tanzania
The Maasai graze cattle across the rift valley lands of Kenya and Tanzania, near parks such as Tarangire. Young men wear red shúkà cloth, beads and sometimes large feather headdresses during rites of passage. The rift escarpment rises on the horizon behind them.
Korcho village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Korcho is a village of the Kara people on a bluff above the Omo River in south-west Ethiopia. The Kara are a small group known for body painting with white chalk and other mineral pigments. Firearms are common among herders in the region, and the lower Omo Valley is also a UNESCO site for its early human fossils.
South America: Patagonia
Gauchos at Lake Argentino, Patagonia
Lake Argentino, in Santa Cruz province, is Argentina's largest freshwater lake and is fed by glaciers from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The riders here are gauchos, the horsemen of the South American plains, in ponchos and berets with their horses and dogs. Gaucho culture is a mixed heritage rather than an indigenous one, which shows how broadly Nelson defines traditional communities.
The debate behind the pictures
Nelson's work is admired for its craftsmanship and scale, but it has also drawn serious criticism, and it is worth knowing both sides. Stephen Corry, director of the campaign group Survival International, argued that Before They Pass Away gave a false and damaging picture of tribal peoples, implying they are doomed to disappear rather than threatened by land grabs and discrimination. Papuan leader Benny Wenda objected to the book calling the Dani people "headhunters", pointing out that they had never practised cannibalism.
Critics also noted that many portraits are carefully staged, with people dressed in ceremonial clothing they would not wear every day. Homage to Humanity responded in part by adding the subjects' own voices and context, and the photos are best read as collaborative portraits rather than documentary snapshots.
How to look at these photographs
Enjoy the beauty, but keep a few things in mind. The people pictured are not frozen in time: most use phones, go to school, trade in markets and take part in national politics, while choosing to keep their traditions alive. Their biggest challenges are usually land rights, climate pressures and access to services, not the loss of costumes.
If you want to support them, look for organisations led by indigenous people themselves, buy crafts from community cooperatives, and, if you travel, use local guides and ask permission before taking photos. The most respectful homage to humanity is to see people as neighbours, not as an exotic backdrop.
Sources: Photographs by Jimmy Nelson, jimmynelson.com; Wikipedia: Jimmy Nelson (photographer).
COMMENTS