The Dani of Papua

In the distant land of Papua, Indonesia, live the Dani tribe. Although thousands of years old, they were unknown to the rest of the world until 1938. Today they still live a simple life and, while not isolated from the march of modernity, their traditions and values have endured. One of Papua’s 150 tribes, Dani men are renowned for their formidable appearance – including wearing the horim or penis gourd.

In 2022 photographer Guy Needham was invited into the Obia and Anemoigi villages as part of his ongoing project to document indigenous peoples. This exhibition is a testament to the Dani - a collection of intimate portraits that hint at empathy and understanding, while also leading us to self-question what we value in our consumption-driven lives.

Guy Needham's work is a hybrid of photographic genres, sitting somewhere between documentary and staged art. An award-winning photographer, his images have been described as having 'both a quiet intensity and a subtle momentum', and have been exhibited in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Sydney.