Page 117 - The Book For Men Spring/Summer 2024

MEMBER OF THE NENETS TRIBE YAMAL PENINSULA, RUSSIA
THIS IMAGE WAS SHOT ON THE YAMAL PENINSULA IN THE NORTH OF
Siberia. I was there in March 2020, in the last four weeks before international airspace was closed due to COVID-19. We spent weeks with these semi-nomadic reindeer herders called Nenets, who pack up everything to migrate from their summer to their winter grounds. There’s heavy external pressures on this culture, from illegal deforestation to heavy mining and oil drilling by the Russian government, all of which have a very destructive impact on the migration patterns and well-being of these people.
I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks living with them in some very small communities in the middle of winter, travelling on the back of snowmobiles. The tent you see in the background is called a chum, which is around 10 metres in diameter, but incredibly warm inside due to a stove in the middle. Outside, temperatures can easily drop to -30 C.
But these people have developed an entire culture built on knowledge and values that are essential to survival. Anything that is non-essential has not developed. For example, their language doesn’t have words for emotional conversations, as they are non-essential to survival. But the people were incredibly welcoming, some of the sweetest people in the world living in crazy conditions. It always blows my mind to see, especially in these places, that people have the most welcoming spirits and attitudes. They’ll always want to share what little food they have.
TEA PICKER
NYUNGWE FOREST, RWANDA
THIS IMAGE WAS TAKEN IN RWANDA, WHEN I WAS ON ASSIGNMENT FOR
an organization called African Parks, an NGO that does a lot of work at the intersection of humans and wildlife. Their philosophy is very much a “people first” approach to nature, and they believe that if you want to save nature, you should focus on people. I agree. If people feel safe, appreciated, and respected, only then will there be space to consider the protection of nature.
African Parks is operating on the front lines of that belief and, in Rwanda, they manage two national parks in that way. Here, you’re seeing the hand of a picker — one of thousands — who works in the highlands on the border of Congo and Rwanda. They pick tea and then the villages in which they live are supported by the sale of the tea leaves. It’s mostly exported, and it’s happening in a region that borders national parks, so there’s lots of wildlife. But, as it’s also an ex–conflict zone, there’s also a lot of tension.
The people there told us stories and talked about what it meant to live next door to one of these protected national parks, and how they have benefited from African Parks’s presence. The stories are really amazing, and we learned what happened to these people, how supported they feel, and how African Parks has caused economic participation. There are so many beautiful things happening there. Once again, it’s a hopeful approach to a bigger story.
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