France Leclerc | Nagaland

Photo © France Leclerc-All Rights Reserved

I occasionally discover travel photographers whose work (undeservedly in my view) isn't as widely known as it should be. That said, perhaps it's my own fault I wasn't aware of France Leclerc's recent photography, as it certainly deserves recognition in the world of ethno-photography.

Her blog is really worth spending time on for the quality of her photographs and the background information she provides.

As an introduction, the Seven Sister States is a name given to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura in northeastern India. Covering about 7% of India's total area, these seven states have a population of about 45 million.

It is to some of these states, namely Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh that France Leclerc recently traveled, and where she made her photographs. She also provides interesting information about the tribes she encountered in these off-the-beaten-path regions.

She also photographed some of my favorite cities in India; Varanasi, and Kolkata and its rickshaw pullers, Kumartuli and the pehlawan wrestlers, and rubbed shoulders with the sadhus at the Haridwar Kumbh Mela. Earlier, she photographed in the ancient city of Lalibela in Ethiopia, and the tribes of the Omo Valley....including the famous (or infamous) jumping of the bulls.

Based in Chicago, France describes herself as a traveler who believes that the more we learn about other cultures, the more accepting and supportive we become of them.