I stumbled across this website a few weeks ago while searching for information on Indonesia. The website belongs to Jimmy Nelson, a modern-day photographer. He spent three years (2009 until 2012) searching for and visually documenting the world’s last indigenous people. Once thriving populations, these people are now endangered tribes living in some of the most remote corners of the world. Mr. Nelson’s photographs capture the intimate details of the natural world they live in and the rich history that continues to nurture and sustain them.

His ambitious quest eventually led him to the Jayawijaya mountain range of Papua, Indonesia. There, he observed and photographed some of the last tribesmen of the Dani, Yawni, and Korowai tribes.

When looking at the pictures of these tribesmen, you would never imagine some of them working in a mining operation. Living a life of unparalleled extremes, these men leave their traditional villages to work in one of the largest, most technically advanced underground mines in the world. Trading in their kotekas (penis gourds), tribal paint, and bows & arrows for hard hats, safety vests, and steel-toed boots, they help produce billions of pounds of copper and millions of ounces of gold.

A photograph of three members of the Dani Tribe (Jimmy Nelson Photography)

http://beforethey.com is an amazing website, and well worth taking the time to explore. To see the Indonesian tribes, click on “The Journeys” and then click on “Indonesia + Papua New Guinea.” You can see more pictures of each tribe by clicking on “View tribe.”