Photographer Jimmy Nelson spent nearly three years visiting 31 remote and unique tribes and cultures around the world, witnessing their rituals and capturing their traditional dresses, jewellery, weapons and symbols in a series of beautiful portraits. His book, Before They Pass Away, is published by teNeus.
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Maasai, Kenya and Tanzania:
The semi-nomadic Maasai people of east Africa live in southern Kenya
and northern Tanzania along the semi-arid and arid lands of the Great
Rift Valley. The Maasai occupy a total land area of 160,000 km2, with a
population between half a million and a million people. To be a Maasai
is to be born into one of the world’s last great warrior cultures. From
boyhood to adulthood, young Maasai begin to learn the responsibilities
of being a man and a warrior. The Maasai are famous for their jumping
dance (adumu), performed by the men of the village, who leap into the
air to show their strength and stamina as tribal warriors.
Photograph: Jimmy Nelson
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