Alessandra Meniconzi | Golden Mountains

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi-All Rights Reserved

I am pleased to feature the work of Alessandra Meniconzi, one of my favorite travel photographers, on the Berkutchi of Central Asia. She tells us that in Kazak language, Berkutchi, means “hunters with the falcon”. Hunting with eagles is a traditional form of falconry. With extreme patience and dedication the Kazakh have domesticated golden eagles, and their techniques were originally adopted by nomadic populations in Central Asia’s plateaus, and eventually spread to the rest of the world.

For those interested in linguistics, the Kazakh word for golden eagle is "bürkit", and the word for "hunter with eagles" is bürtkitshi.

There are only about 40 officially recognized eagle-hunters in Kazakhstan today, but a village named Nura is its epicenter because it has 14 of them. Kazakh interest in eagle-hunting has been growing since the republic became independent with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Hunting with eagles was discouraged in Soviet days, because it was considered an elite sport.

Alessandra Meniconzi is a documentary photographer whose work "centres on the ancient heritage, customs, spirituality and daily life of indigenous people". She prefers remote and rugged places, mountainous terrain and desert, and seeks people who manage to survive in such places, to discover and record their ancient way of life before they are changed by the modern era. Her photographs have been published widely in magazines, newspaper, calendars, postcards, as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011)

Palani Mohan | The Kazakh Eagle Hunters

Photo © Palani Mohan-All Right Reserved

The practice of eagle hunting in Kazakhstan was almost eradicated during the Soviet era, however the ancient tradition is coming back with a vengeance.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country by land area, and the ninth largest country in the world with a territory larger than Western Europe. Hunting with eagles is unique to the country and Kyrgyzstan, and there are now more than 50 eagle handlers in Kazakhstan. Most of those make a living posing for tourist photographs, but a handful still ride the steppes to hunt live prey.

Falconry developed in Central Asia and for many centuries, Kazakh men have hunted from horseback with trained golden eagles, the largest and most powerful of raptors. Rabbits, fox and sometimes wolves are hunted for their fur by the Berkutchi (Kazakh for eagle hunter).

Documenting this hunting tradition, Palani Mohan has featured two wonderful monochrome photo essays on his website. I've featured his photographic work at least three times on this blog.

Born in Chennai, India, Palani moved to Australia as a child. His photographic career started at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, and he's now based in Hong Kong.

His work has been published by many of the world's leading magazines and newspapers including National Geographic, Stern, Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times. He also published three photographic books. His work has been recognized with awards from World Press Photo, Picture of the Year, National Press Photographers Association, American Photo and Communication Arts. He is represented by Getty Images' Reportage Group in New York.