Eric Lafforgue

Singsing Festival, Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea 2007

Eric Lafforgue (b.1964, France) has always been fascinated by travel. When he was ten years old he spent time in Africa, unknowingly retracing Monfried and Joseph Kesselʼs footsteps in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen. He started taking photographs in 2006 and in 2008, his work on the people of Papua was shown at VISA photojournalism festival in Perpignan. Since then his work has been published in: Time, National Geographic, New York Times, CNN Traveler, Discovery Channel BBC, and the Sunday times among others. Eric is represented by the French photo agency Rapho.

About the Photo:

“Once a year in Mount Hagen, in the highlands of Papua New Guinea tribes from all around the country come to show their culture and rituals. Dancing contests and ceremonial exchanges are the  highlight of these festivities, aimed to honor and renew the relationship with ancestors as well as maintaining each clan’s prestige. When decorating themselves, Papuan’s use everything they find in nature : grass, flowers, natural pigments, animal teeth and pig tusks. The headdress they wear is made by old wise men who keep the feathers like a treasure in old suitcases. Each feather is packed in a page of newspaper, to protect it from insects, and one by one, the man will build the headdress. It takes hours. They start at six in the morning and lasts into the night.”