VANISHING CULTURES

Vanishing Cultures" is a long-term photographic project co-authored by myself and Katja Bidovec with the aim to present ethnic groups living in the most remote places of the planet, where indigenous peoples still live like hundreds of years ago. They are interesting visually as well as from anthropological and sociological perspective. and it is homage to Richard Avedon, inspired by Edward S. Curtis Native American Indians photos. The basic idea is to photograph different ethnic groups in a portable studio which enables uniform studio-quality lighting regardless of the available light. For this purpose, we use a mobile black tent and studio strobes so we are able to light the portraits in a very precise way. We want to get an effect as if they are shot in a real photographic studio, although this is carried out in hard-to-reach places where conditions are harsh and available resources are very basic. So far we’ve visited four different locations:

Omo River/Ethiopia: The cultures along the Omo River are vanishing due to dam construction and water scarcity caused by multinational plantations. The river, vital to locals, is drying up as their land is taken for monocultures.

Arunachal Pradesh/India: In Arunachal and Nagaland, indigenous cultures are fading due to modern influences. Traditional values and attire are being replaced by contemporary trends, with older generations being the last to maintain their heritage.

Namibia: In Namibia, traditional lifestyles are being abandoned for modern conveniences. The San and Himba people are losing their cultural knowledge, often performing traditional practices only for tourists while integrating into a cash economy.

Western Sahara: Moroccan occupation has disrupted the traditional Sahrawi way of life. Younger generations are losing ancient survival skills as they are restricted from their nomadic lifestyle, leading to the permanent loss of these traditions.