Hunters, fighters, nomads - photographer Jimmy Nelson spent nearly three years capturing the vanishing ways of life within these remote tribes and ancient civilisations - and the results are breaktaking...
Namibia
Married women from the Himba tribe wear a small crown made of goatskin on their heads. Himba men are polygamous, and may have a number of different wives and children in different homesteads.
Papua New Guinea
The Huli paint their faces yellow, white and red. They also make wigs from their own hair. Tribal warfare is common among the tribes of Papua New Guinea. They fight over three things: land, pigs and women - in that order.
Russia
The Chukchi live in a harsh climate where temperatures drop as low as -54°C. The staple foods eaten by the inland Chukchi are products of reindeer farming: boiled venison, reindeer brains and bone marrow and reindeer-blood soup.
New Zealand
While the arrival of Europeans had a profound impact on the Maori way of life, many aspects of traditional society have survived into the 21st century. The haka war dance, meant to intimidate the enemy, is one of the best-known cultural traditions of the Maori.
Argentina
The pastimes of the gauchos include gambling, drinking, playing the guitar and singing about their skills in hunting, fighting and love-making. Gauchos usually didn't marry the women they lived with. She raised their children and took care of housekeeping.
Ethiopia
Mursi women all over the world are known for wearing clay plates in their lower lips. At the age of 15, girls get pierced, after which their lips are stretched out to create enough space to place the lip plate.
India
The Rabari women are shrewd and intelligent and manage the hamlets and all money matters. Going to the local village or town market is an important part of daily life. There, the Rabari women trade milk and milk products from their livestock.
Kenya
The Samburu people live a nomadic lifestyle in the Rift Valley. Fertility is very important for the Samburu. Childless women are ridiculed, even by children. Samburu boys throw cow dung at the huts of women thought to be sterile.
Ethiopia
In order for young tribesman to qualify for marriage, own cattle and have children they must face up to a unique dare, known as the bull-leaping ceremony. Cows are lined up in a row. Each boy, naked, has to make four clean runs over the backs of the cows, without falling.
Kingdom of Lo - Nepal
The Lopa's traditions are closely related to early Buddhism. Most people in Mustang still believe the earth is flat, illness is caused by evil spirits and monks heal diseases with exorcisms.
© Before They Pass Away by Jimmy Nelson, published by teNeues, £100, also available as Collector’s Edition XXL.
Images: Photo © Jimmy Nelson Pictures BV, beforethey.com
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