RAMAYANA TATTOOS

I usually don't mention photographers collective on this blog, but I found that ArcaPress (started in May of 2010) which highlights Brazilian culture and covering such areas as religion, indigenous people, economic issues, urban reality, environment and wildlife.

I was particularly drawn to Between Faith And Fever by Guy Veloso, and Maracatu by Celso Oliviera.

Maracatu is the name of performance genres found in northeastern Brazil and in its northeastern state of Ceará. Maracatu describes the music style that accompanies these performances. Maracatu has close ties to Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies, and these performances are secular manifestations of these cults.

Photo © Mike Goldwater-All Rights Reserved

In Focus, the photo blog of The Atlantic magazine, featured The Ashaninka, A Threatened Way of Life; photographs by Mike Goldwater. Be sure to view the photographs in the 1280px option if your monitor allows it.

The Ashaninka are an indigenous people living in the rain forests of Peru and in the State of Acre of Brazil, and are one of the largest indigenous groups in South America. Their number is estimated between 25,000 and 45,000.

Current threats are from oil companies, drug traffickers, colonists, illegal lumberers, illegal roads, conservation groups, missionary groups, and diseases. Roads are being built into the forest to extract mahogany and cedar trees for export to markets in the United States and Europe despite an international embargo. Religious missionary groups are intent on changing Ashaninka culture and belief systems, ignoring the impact on their long term survival.

Mike Goldwater is a photographer, who ran the Half Moon Gallery in London's East End from 1974 to 1980, and who created the magazine "Camerawork". He also co-founded photo agency 'Network Photographers' for photojournalism, documentary photography and corporate work.  He traveled to over 70 countries and his images were published in major magazines around the world.

You may also wish to see Tatiana Cardeal's work on South American indigenous people.

Photo © Cristina Mittermeier-All Rights Reserved

Cristina Mittermeier grew up just outside of Mexico City, and is a photographer, a marine biologist, a writer, a world traveler, has a 20 year-long career in conservation and raised children. She is also Executive Director of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). Her passion in life is to use her photography to protect the planet’s resources.

Cristina is also a SONY Artisan of Imagery Photographer.

My favorite gallery out of Cristina's many galleries is that of the River People of the Amazon with photographs of the Kayapo people of the Amazon basin. However, before exploring Cristina's galleries, stay a moment on the main page of her website, click on Hide Menu at its bottom, and revel in her handful of glorious large photographs of the Amazon...these alone are worth the visit!

The Kayapo people are the native people of the plain lands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil, south of the Amazon Basin and along Rio Xingu and its tributaries. Their population was just over 7000 in the latest census. Interesting, they extract medicine from 650 different plants that they find in the rainforest, and have a trade agreement with Body Shop!