LONDON.- An exhibition of Jimmy Nelson’s arresting photographs will open at Sotheby’s in London, 16th- 21st September 2016. Since 1987, Nelson has caught on camera remote and unique cultures worldwide: the Nenet reindeer herders who migrate over 1000km a year across the Yamal peninsula; the Samburu people who have herded cattle on the foothills of Mount Kenya for over 500 years; the Huli wig men living in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Sotheby’s exhibition will present a selection of 13 photographs from Jimmy Nelson’s most recent project, “Before they Pass Away”, taken during a five-year journey across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the South Pacific. Between 2010 and 2015, he visited 35 Indigenous communities, photographing peoples living in some of the last untouched corners of the planet.

Nelson chronicles indigenous cultures for present and future generations, creating a highly aesthetic photographic record and film document intended to stand the test of time. As a self-educated ethnologist and visual anthropologist, he has mostly selected fragile communities with a rich cultural heritage, using his camera to overcome both cultural and linguistic barriers.

Through his work, Nelson brings into focus not only the beauty, but also the intrinsic value of these remote communities, reminding viewers of the importance of the knowledge and wisdom we can gain through understanding their rites, customs and traditions. His works aim to provoke a wider discussion regarding the longevity of these cultures and communities, driven by Nelson’s fascination for the rapidly vanishing harmony between man and nature.

Highlights
Jimmy Nelson Goroka, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea, 2010, 120 x 100 cm, edition: 3/6
The indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous in the world. The harsh terrain and historic inter-tribal warfare has led to village isolation and the proliferation of distinct languages. Indigenous warfare is common and men go through great effort to impress the enemy with make-up and ornaments.

Jimmy Nelson Saitoti, Maasai Boy Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Tanzania, 2010 120 x 100cm , Edition: 3/6
When the Maasai migrated from the Sudan in the 15th century, they conquered almost all of the Rift Valley. To be a Maasai is to be born into one of the last great warrior cultures. The Maasai’s entire way of life has historically depended on their cattle, following patterns of rainfall over vast land in search of food and water. Nowadays, it is common to see young Maasai men and women in cities selling not just goats and cows, but also beads, mobile phones, charcoal and grain.

Jimmy Nelson Yakim, Brigade 2, Nenet Yamal Peninsula, Ural Mountains Russia, 2011 180 by 225 cm, Edition: 1/1
The Nenets are reindeer herders, thriving for more than a millennium with temperatures from minus 50°C in winter to 35°C in summer. Their annual migration of over a 1000 km across the Yamal peninsula includes a 48 km crossing of the frozen waters of the Ob River. No Arctic people that we know of have persisted for so long and so defiantly. Today, more than 10,000 nomads herd 300,000 domestic reindeer on the pastures of the Arctic tundra.

Jimmy Nelson Ni Vanuatu Man Rah Lava Island, Torba Province, Vanuatu, 2011 100 by 140cm, Edition: 5/6
Settlement in the 85 Vanuatu islands dates back to round 500 BC. There is evidence that Melanesian navigators from Papua New Guinea were the first to colonise Vanuatu. Over centuries, other migrations followed. Nowadays, all the inhabited islands have their own languages, customs and traditions.

Jimmy Nelson Menaja Koke Ponowi Village, Jalibu Mountains, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea, 2010 120 by 100cm, Edition: 4/6
It is believed that the first Papua New Guineans migrated to the island over 45000 years ago. Today, over three million people, half of the heterogeneous population, live in the highlands. Some of these communities have engaged in low-scale indigenous conflict with their neighbours for millennia and great effort is made to impress the enemy through their dress.

Jimmy Nelson Tumbu, Hangu, Peter, Hapiya, Kati, Hengene & Steven Huli Wigmen, Ambua Falls, Tari Valley, Papua New Guinea, 2010 100 by 180cm Edition: 6/6
The largest indigenous group on Papua New Guinea, the Huli wig men, are famous for their tradition of making ornamented wigs from their own hair. These look like plumed hats, intricately decorated with feathers of birds of paradise and parrots. Other ornaments include shells, beads, pig tusks, hornbill skulls and foliage. An axe with a claw completes the effect.

Jimmy Nelson (b. 1967) began working as a photographer in 1987. Having spent 10 years at a Jesuit boarding school in the North of England, Nelson set off alone to traverse the length of Tibet on foot (1985). Upon his return, his unique visual diary, featuring revealing images of previously inaccessible Tibet, was published to wide international acclaim.

In 1987, Nelson was commisioned to cover a varity of culturally newsworthy themes for many of the world’s leading publications, ranging from the Russian involvement in Afghanistan and the ongoing stife between India and Pakistan in Kashmir to the beginning of the war in former Yugoslavia.

In early 1994, Nelson and his wife, Ashkaine Hora Adema, produced ‘Literary Portraits of China’, a coffee table book documenting the indegenous cultures of China and their translated literature. ‘Literary Portraits of China’ was the result of a forty month project which took Nelson and Adema to the hidden corners of the newly opening People’s Republic. Upon its completion, the images were exhibited in the People’s Palace on Tiananmen Square, Beijing, followed by a successful worldwide tour.

From 1997 onwards, Jimmy began accumulating images of remote and unique cultures photographed with a traditional 50- year- old plate camera. In 2010, he began his journey to create ‘Before They Pass Away’. After visiting 35 chosen Indigenous communities Nelson published Part 1, receiving International acclaim at the beginning of 2014.

Today, Jimmy is still travelling and photographing to produce Part 2 of the project, and set up the Jimmy Nelson Foundation earlier this year.

All the photographs on exhibition at Sotheby’s are available for sale.