Bali: Graceful Sailing Boats

Sailing boats ferrying people between Bali, Indonesia, and a smaller island.

Bali: A Smile In The Crowd

In Bali, an Indonesian Island, my clicking camera brought a brief smile to the face of a woman who, with others, was watching the passage of a funeral procession. Most women lining the street were carrying on their heads offerings they would display on a large makeshift table outside a Balinese Hindu temple. The old lady in her coffin would be cremated there and quite joyously dispatched to a better world.

Niger: Wodaabe Friends

This Wodaabe nomad man of Niger’s Sahel is watching other men dance the Gerewol, which doubles as an annual male beauty contest between clans. It takes place during the few weeks of rain that provide enough pasture and water for those people’s zebus to allow the tribe to stay together at one place for a while.

    

The way he and a friend lean on each other does not connote homosexuality and is common among Wodaabe men and women.

Ghana: Inseparable Little Girl Friends

Last month, Highlights for Children magazine published my story of two inseparable nine-year-old Ashanti girls of Ghana. This picture, which ended Becky-and-Bonsa’s story, shows them going for a walk at day’s end, still full of things to tell each other before going to bed. I photographed them in Adukrom, a big village of wonderful cocoa-growing people surrounded by tall and thick rain forest near Kumasi. The girls’ story is being offered to children’s book publishers.

Brazil: Street Capoeira

I photographed the following scene in Salvador, Brazil, in 1971. Supported by two musicians, a man challenged spectators to face him in a bout of capoeira, a form of Brazilian martial art, for a prize. A valiant teenager did, but was not long in biting the dust, and the coins that fell in the ring went to the man.

Brazil: A Woman's Pride In Shining Pots

Squatting next to Rio Preto in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest, a woman washes dishes and polishes pots. Behind her and to her left are two canoes.

  

Rio Preto means Black River in Potuguese. There are many black rivers in the Amazon, including Rio Negro, South America’s second most powerful river after the Amazon, of which it is a tributary.

Black rivers look like black mirrors. However, when scooped in a hand their waters have the color of tea. They even taste like tea. Unlike white rivers, which run over sand and clay, they run over rocks and should be transparent instead of muddy, like the Amazon. They get their color by soaking the surrounding vegetation when seasonally flooding the forest. 

Colombia: Last Of The Ice Miners

 One of travel’s rewards is the unexpected you can nearly always count on when leaving behind  the boredom of modern life.  In 1994, when I climbed southern Colombia’s Cumbal Volcano with my family, our goal was to peek inside its crater. We never imagined we would be watching farmers carrying blocks of fossil ice on their backs from the bottom of that crater.

     Now the farmers quickly wrapped the ice inside grass and espeletias. This would protect its temperature from the sun and the warm sides of the horses which would carry it down the volcano.  The men told us they would sell the ice to small ice cream makers in villages far below.

     Unfortunately, we had arrived too late to watch them ax the ice out of the rocks. They were done for the day. And soon forever. Electricity and refrigerators would soon reach those villages.

Cameroon: Poling A Dugout Canoe On The Benue River

Beckoning scene of a canoe-poling man on the BenueRiver near Garoua, north Cameroon.

Weaving With A Backstrap Loom

In Peru’s small Andean town of Uchucmarca, in Amazonas Province, a girl is using a backstrap loom to weave a poncho outside her family’s house.

Peru: A Great Husband

Shucking corn in his backyard was only one of the many activities this quiet man happily shared with his wife in the small town of Uchucmarca in Peru’s Amazonas Province. While on a 1976 Natural History magazine assignment in the couple’s remote region, which lacked accommodations of any type, I had to base myself in their modest house. But the bread they baked and sold to their neighbors, and the wife’s alfalfa soup, were among the best I tasted anywhere.

Peru: Honoring Saint Mary In Procession

In Peru’s Andean town of Puno, on Saint Mary’s Day, a crowd is flowing out of the cathedral following a representation of the Virgin Mary carried by several men.

Peru: Brisk Business At An Indian Market

Is there a better place anywhere to photograph people with their guards down than at markets? I don’t think so.  Imagine how visible a blond, blue-eyed photographer dressed differently from the surrounding crowd should be. But to women anxious to put their hands on the best cabbage I was not even there. I shot this scene in Pisac, in the Cusco province of Peru’s Andes Mountains, some time in the seventies. 

Peru: Celebrating Saint Mary's Day

In Corongo, a big village in Peru’s Andes Mountains, danses celebrate Saint Mary’s Day.

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A Corongo, un gros village des Andes péruviennes, des danses célèbrent le jour de Sainte Marie.

Eritrea: The Struggle For Water

Against a sinking sun, along Eritrea’s Red Sea Coast near Thio, two Danakil boys are filling canvas bags on a donkey with the water of a drying river.

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Au soleil couchant, le long de la côte Erythréenne de la mer rouge à Thio, ces garçons Danakil remplissent des sacs de toile sur l’âne avec l’eau de ce qui reste d’une rivière en voie d’asséchement

Sunflower Fire At Dusk

Sunflowers shining at dusk under Colombian Andes Mountains.

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Tournesols brillant au crépuscule d’Andes colombiennes.

Venezuela : Warau Hamlet In The Orinoco Delta

Warau Indians of Venezuela’s Orinoco Delta gathering taros they harvested in their marshy jungle garden and brought home in their canoe below.

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Femmes Warau du delta de l’Orénoque au Venezuela rassemblent des taros qu’elles ont ramenés de leur jardin marécageux de la forêt dans leur canot plus bas.

Afghanistan: End Of Day, Time To Rest

Men rest and women hide at the purple end of a day in Ghazni, Afghanistan. A tea shop occupies the house’s second floor.

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A la lumière pourpre d’une fin de journée à Ghazni, en Afghanistan, les hommes se reposent et les femmes se cachent. Un salon de thé occupe le deuxième étage de la maison. 

Afghanistan: Caravanserai At Dusk

I shot this caravanserai at dusk in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 1965 while on a National Geographic assignment to document a summer-end migration of Kuchi (Pashtun) nomads from the cooling Hindu Kush Mountains down to the warmer lowlands around Jalalabad.

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J’ai photographié ce caravansérail à Ghazni, en Afghanistan, en 1965. Le magazine National Geograpic m’y avait envoyé pour photographier la migration de fin d’été des nomades Kuchi (Pashtoun) et de leurs troupeaux entre les froides montagnes de l’Hindou Kouch et les terres chaudes autour de Jalalabad.

Ghana: A Sunny Day In The Countryside

A dirt road cuts through a deciduous forest near Tamale, North Ghana. To watch how nimbly the two young women are walking, you would never suspect how heavy their water buckets are.

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Près de Tamale, au nord du Ghana, deux jeunes femmes marchent le long d’une route de terre à travers une forêt à feuilles caduques. Le poids de leurs seaux d’eau ne quitte rien à l’agilité de leurs mouvements.

Ecuador: Canelo-Quichua Woman Painting Granddaughter's Face With Achiote

In Ecuador’s rain forest near Puyo this Canelo-Quichua woman is using achiote to decorate her granddaughter’s face.

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Femme Canelo-Quichua en Amazonie Equatorienne près de Puyo utilisant de l’achiote pour décorer le visage de sa petite-fille. 

Ecuador: Indian Women Weeding Potato Field

Indian women weeding potato field near Ambato, in Ecuador’s Andes Mountains.

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Indiennes désherbant champ de pommes de terre près d’Ambato, dans les Andes Equatoriennes.

Colombia: Enigmatic Smile Of An Arhuaco Girl

Arhuaco girl I photographed in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

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Jeune femme Arhuaco photographiée dans la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta en Colombie.

Kenya: Turkana Stick Fight

Turkana men, near Lake Turkana, Kenya, delighting their companions with a friendly joust.

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Hommes Turkana, près du lac Turkana, au Kenya, amusant leurs compagnons avec un match amical.

Niger Women Hiding From The Scorching Sun

In Agadès, a Sahara Desert town of Niger, young women have sought relief from the scorching sun inside an adobe house.

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A Agadès, une ville saharienne du Niger, ces jeunes femmes jouissent de la fraîcheur d’une maison d’adobe où la chaleur les a poussées.

Benin: Bariba Aristocrat Dressed For End Of Ramadan

Bariba aristocrat of Kandi, Benin, dressed up to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

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Aristocrate Bariba de Kandi, au Bénin, vêtu pour célébrer la fin du Ramadan.

Benin :Ganvié Lacustral Village

Ganvié lacustral village on the coast of Benin. Its inhabitants live mainly from fishing.

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Village lacustre de Ganvié sur la côte du Bénin. Se habitants vivent principalement de la pêche.

Kenya: Turkana Nomads Watering Herds

Turkana women watering their families’ zebus near Lake Turkana, in Kenya. The hole they are standing in is so deep that it takes not two but three women to lift the water from the bottom to the animals. Lacking shovels, the women dug the hole, in a dry river bed, using the same wooden bowls they are filling with water and originally carved themselves. Thorn branches surround the hole to keep herds from soiling it or falling into it.

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Femmes Turkana abreuvant les zébus de leurs familles près du lac Turkana, au Kenya. Le trou duquel elles élèvent l’eau est si profond que trois femmes sont nécessaires pour se passer l’eau de mains en mains. Dépourvues de pelles, ces femmes ont  creusé le trou dans le lit asséché d’une rivière en se servant des mêmes bols à eau que montre la photo et qu’elles ont taillés elles-mêmes dans du bois. Des branches épineuses entourent le trou pour en écarter les animaux.

Scenes Of An Ecuador Rodeo

At an Ecuador rodeo celebrating Columbus Day in Salitre, Guayas, one of a few groups of cowboys who would compete against each other in the name of the haciendas that employ them, makes its entrance in the arena. Half a dozen haciendas participated in the event, each with about a dozen cowboys. The teams distinguished themselves from each other with shirts of different colors.

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A un rodéo Equatorien célébrant le jour de Colomb à Salitre, Guayas, l’un des groupes de cowboys qui participeront dans un concours en représentation des haciendas qui les emploient, fait son entrée dans l’arène. Une demi-douzaine d’haciendas prit part dans l’évènement, chacune d’elles avec une douzaine de cowboys. Les équipes se distinguèrent l’une de l’autre avec des couleurs de chemises différentes.

A madrina, or godmother, precedes each group of seven or more cowboys riding around the arena in their presentation to the public. She will compete too, but in a beauty contest.

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Une ‘marraine’ précède chaque group de cowboys chevauchant autour de l’arène dans sa présentation au public. Elle affrontera son propre championnat dans un concours de beauté.

The sun is hitting hard and a hat vendor is doing brisk business.

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Le soleil tape dur et le vendeur de chapeaux ne manque pas de clients.

 A partial rear view of the bamboo stands

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Une vue postérieure partielle des tribunes de bambou.

A visiting politician gives a speech at the grandstand. Later, at hearing gun shots, the mayor will have this to say on the microphone:

     “Gentlemen, remember there are ladies and children in our midst. When using your handguns,please remember to shoot skyward.”

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Un politicien en visite donne un discours depuis la tribune d’honneur. Plus tard, suite à des coups de feu, le maire aura ceci à déclarer au microphone:

     « Messieurs, rappelez-vous que nous sommes entourés de femmes et d’enfants. Quand vous tirez, veuillez pointer vos armes vers le ciel.

The stunts of seven-year-old-Carmen, the latest of a long line of family boys and girls her rancher grandfather, in a green shirt behind her, has trained, won her the Miss Rodeo title. She rode into the arena with spurs tied to naked feet.

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Les cascades de Carmen, de sept ans, la dernière d’une longue série de garçons et filles de sa famille que son grand-père, patron d’une estancia et veillant sur elle derrière le cheval,  lui valurent le titre de Señorita Rodéo. Elle fit son entrée à cheval avec des éperons attachés à ses pieds nus.

Ecuador: Haggling Over A Pig In A Riobamba Market

In one of Riobamba’s markets in Ecuador’s Andes Mountains, a man uses his power of persuasion on an Indian farmer to try to lower the price of a pig.

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Dans l’un des marchés de Riobamba, dans les Andes Equatoriennes, un homme essaie de persuader un fermier indien de baisser le prix de son cochon.

Ecuador: How The Awa Cook Capybaras

Awa woman of Ecuador’s coastal rain forest burning the hair of a capybara before barbequeing it with its skin on.

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Femme Awa de la forêt côtière de l’Equateur brûlant les poils d’un capibara avant de le griller dans sa propre peau.

New Brunswick: All Eyes On The Sea

Canada: Rescue-ready on New Brunswick’s Bouctouche Beach.

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Canada: Prêts pour le sauvetage sur une plage de Bouctouche, au New Brunswick.

Picnic on New Brunswick’s Miscou Island.

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Pique-nique sur l’île de Miscou au New Brunswick

Kenya: Female Turkana Manual Ability

1973 photo of a Turkana woman of Kenya, near Lake Turkana, carving a perfectly symmetrical milk jug out of a log. Turkana women do wonders with their hands.

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Photo de 1973 d’une femme Turkana du Kenya, près du lac Turkana, taillant une pièce de bois en pot à lait parfaitement symétrique. Les mains de femmes Turkana créent de petites merveilles.

Turkana Man Of Kenya Enjoying Photo Shoot

Lying on his belly in the sand of a wadi, chin on his headrest, hands shading his face, and an ostrich feather rising from his hair, a Turkana nomad enjoys a photographer’s attention. A circular knife, used in battle but otherwise covered all around by a leather strip, surrounds his right wrist.

     Turkana men always use a headrest to protect their coiffure, elaborately enhanced with grey and red clay, when they sleep. They also carry it to sit on when the ground is littered with thorns.

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Couché sur son ventre dans le sable d’un oued, mains ombrageant son visage et une plume d‘autruche dressée sur sa tête, un nomade Turkana prend plaisir à l’attention d’un photographe. Un couteau circulaire, arme de combat, entoure son poignet droit.

     Les hommes Turkana ne vont nulle part sans leur appui-tête. Il leur sert à éviter de déranger leurs coiffures, décorées de glaise grise et rouge, quand ils se couchent, et pour s’y asseoir en terrains couverts d’épines. 

Kenya: Long-Legged Turkana Girls

Near Kenya’s Lake Turkana, two Turkana girls at a well to water their family’s cows and goats take a minute in a tree’s shade to pull a thorn out of a foot.

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Près du lac Turkana, au Kenya, deux jeunes filles  Turkana à un puits pour y abreuver leurs troupeaux de bœufs et de chèvres prennent un moment à l’ombre d’un arbre pour retirer une épine d’un pied.

Gauguin Would Have Painted This Marquesas Island Scene

Young woman trimming a straw hat she wove in Ua Pou, one of the Islands of the Marquesas Archipelago. Gauguin, who lived and died in the Marquesas, would have liked these colors.

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Usant de ciseaux, cette jeune femme termine un chapeau de paille qu’elle a tissé à Ua Pou, l’une des îles de l’archipel des Marquises.Gauguin, qui vécut et mourut aux Marquises, aurait aimé ces couleurs.

Making Garlands In Nuku Hiva Island

Polynesian sisters in the Marquesas Island of Nuku Hiva making garlands.

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Sœurs polynésiennes de l’île de Nuku Hiva, dans l’archipel des Marquises, faisant des guirlandes.

Ghana: Ashanti Orange Harvest

Walking through a plantain and cocoa plantation, Ashanti women are carrying oranges from their Adukrom grove to sell the next day at the Kumasi market, a bus ride away.

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Traversant une plantation de bananes plantains à Adukrom, des femmes Ashanti transportent des oranges qu’elles iront vendre le jour suivant au marché de Kumasi, à une demi-heure de là en bus.