Charles Fourtree | Papua New Guinea

Photo © Charles Fourtree-All Rights Reserved

Papua New Guinea seems to be the end of the earth. It almost is. And it offers intrepid travel photographers some incredible opportunities to document its indigenous culture and traditions.

The Goroka festival is probably the best known tribal gathering and cultural event in Papua New Guinea. It's held every year close to the country's Independence Day on 16 September in the town of Goroka, the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province. About 100 tribes arrive to show their music, dance and culture. This traditional festival is called a sing-sing, and is the biggest of its kind in the world.

Charles Fourtree's gallery of his work in Papua New Guinea allows us to admire his photographs of this event's participants up close and personal. As you will see, feathers of birds of paradise are heavily featured in the festival, either used for decorative head gear or ceremonial dress, and it is often noted how extraordinary that so many feathers can be squeezed on a traditional headdress. The dances and songs during the festival reflect the behavior of the birds of paradise in the wild, which represent beauty and seduction to the tribes.

Charles Fourtree is a travel photographer focussing on portraits and wildlife. He has a special interest in Asia with its great cultural diversity, and he connects with local people in order to see countries through their eyes. 

I gather Charles is currently traveling in the Kutch region of Gujarat. I expect he will return with equally admirable photographs.