Travelling the world and going places has always been important to me. Meeting different cultures is a privilige. Some of these people live in a such a different world compared to the one I come from.
Our world is continuously changing and also the so called ‘third world countries’ are moving ahead. The environment is changing and also the people living in there are changing, trying to improve their lives. This means often that old customs and traditions are being forgotten and not practized any more. These do not fit in, or are not compatible with the ‘modern’ way of live anymore. Like the story of the women of the Apatani tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. As the Apatani women were considered the most beautiful in the region, there were a lot of kidnappings by neighbouring tribes like the Nishi. To avoid this, the women got facial tattoos and nose plugs. These ‘dat’ are big black disks inserted in holes in the nostrils. After peace with the Nishi in the 60’s, there was no more need for this practice. This means now that only the older women still have the tattoos and the ‘dat’.
With my photographs I try to capture some of the new and some of the fascinating old ways of live. Hopefully other people can enjoy this as much as I do myself.