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See the exhibition about one of the world's most remote tribes, the Dani of Papua "One of Papua’s 150 tribes, the Dani live in the isolated Baliem valley where the smell of dampness hangs in the air, pushed down by the cigarette smoke and low cloud.” 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. Dani men are renowned for their formidable appearance – including wearing the horim or penis gourd. While most of the younger members of the tribe wear western clothes today, the elders still adhere to the old ways and the tribe embraces traditional dress when it comes to ceremony. See the exhibition Rome 5 - 19 June 2026 Address GARD Galleria Arte Roma Design - Via Dei Conciatori,3/i ( Giardino Interno) Contact +39 06 5759475 soniagard@gmail.com guy@guyneedham.com Opening Hours Mon - Fri 10:30am - 12:30pm; 3:30pm - 7:30pm ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Guy Needham’s inquisitive worldview was shaped by growing up in rural New Zealand in the 1970s. Today he is noted for his international work with indigenous tribes, primarily drawing on themes of identity and place within cultural narratives. His work is a hybrid of photographic genres, sitting somewhere between documentary and portraiture. The simplicity of his pared-down style has been described as having both a quiet intensity and a subtle momentum. His images have been exhibited in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Athens, and been seen on the pages of National Geographic Traveler, CNN.com, Lonely Planet, SUITCASE Magazine, International Traveler, Portrait Magazine and AFAR.

Although thousands of years old, the Dani were unknown to the rest of the world until 1938. Today they they still hunt with bows and arrows in the Papua region of Indonesia, and dress traditionally for celebrations, including wearing a horim or penis gourd. TRIBES The Dani Papua Province, Indonesia Although thousands of years old, the Dani were unknown to the rest of the world until 1938. Today they they still hunt with bows and arrows in the Papua region of Indonesia, and dress traditionally for celebrations, including wearing a horim or penis gourd. < Previous Next >

TRIBES

See the exhibition about one of Angola's oldest tribes, the Vatwa of Angola "We were the original inhabitants of this area thousands of years ago. No one really knows where we came from. We have crops over there, we have these goats, we live off the land.” Mutjila, Vatwa chief. The Vatwa of Angola Regarded as the first indigenous inhabitants of the Onconcua region, the Vatwa remain semi-nomadic and grow crops and tend goats within the compounds housing their traditional huts. The most striking thing about the Vatwa are the women, covered in a red paste of ochre clay, animal fats and lotion that makes their skin shine in the unrelenting sun. Young, newly married women wear a three-pronged ekori goatskin on top of their platted dreadlocks. The wearing of certain necklaces, braids and shells represents a unique mix of personal style and significant life stages. The attire makes sense considering the isolated environment: sparse, desolate, flat. See the exhibition Melbourne 8 April - 6 May 2026 Address Ladder Art Space 81 Denmark St, Kew VIC 3101 Contact (03) 9852 8772 Opening Hours Tue - Sat 11:30am – 5:00pm info@ladderartspace.com.au guy@guyneedham.com ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Guy Needham’s inquisitive worldview was shaped by growing up in rural New Zealand in the 1970s. Today he is noted for his international work with indigenous tribes, primarily drawing on themes of identity and place within cultural narratives. His work is a hybrid of photographic genres, sitting somewhere between documentary and portraiture. The simplicity of his pared-down style has been described as having both a quiet intensity and a subtle momentum. His images have been exhibited in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Athens, and been seen on the pages of National Geographic Traveler, CNN.com, Lonely Planet, SUITCASE Magazine, International Traveler, Portrait Magazine and AFAR.

Guy Needham is an international photographer noted for his work with indigenous tribes, who primarily draws on themes of culture, identity and place. The Dani of Papua The Dani of Papua The Dani of Papua The Dani of Papua

Colombia's Bogota Post has selected an image taken by Guy Needham at the recent Carnaval de Negros y Blancos for its front page. < Back Carnaval in the Bogota Post 25 Jan 2018 Colombia's Bogota Post has selected an image taken by Guy Needham at the recent Carnaval de Negros y Blancos for its front page. It's a rare honour for a foreign photographer covering a Colombian cultural event to be featured in this newspaper. You can see the image here . < Previous Next >

Vermont's PhotoPlace Gallery has selected one of Guy Needham's Hamar of Ethiopia images for its upcoming Travel exhibition. < Back The Hamar in Vermont 26 Sept 2018 Vermont's PhotoPlace Gallery has selected one of Guy Needham's Hamar of Ethiopia images for its upcoming Travel exhibition. The young Hamar man holding his borkoto will be on show from November 7th to December 8th - the first time one of the images from the collection has been exhibited in the United States. < Previous Next >

“Y’all not from round here, are ya? Ain’t nobody drinks Buuuud." Ever wondered what it's like in a true cowboy town in southern Texas? < Back Lone Star State of Mind 3 May 2016 “Y’all not from round here, are ya? Ain’t nobody drinks Buuuud." Ever wondered what it's like in a true cowboy town in southern Texas? Guy Needham's latest article about exploring small towns in the Big State is the cover story of this week's New Zealand Herald's travel section. Check it out here . < Previous Next >

One of the most defining images of the Shades of Otara series is spotlit in this month's Royal Photographic Society's Journal. < Back Otara in the Royal Photographic Society Journal 9 Mar 2018 One of the most defining images of the Shades of Otara series is spotlit in this month's Royal Photographic Society's Journal. The image of a young man resting on a pile of crates he has just unloaded. There is something balanced about his physical exhaustion and the girl in the background, licking an ice-cream as if it was her reward for his hard work. < Previous Next >

Adrian Hatwell of D-Photo magazine and The Photographers' Mail sat down to discuss Guy Needham's upcoming solo exhibition, Shades of Otara. < Back Interview with The Photographers' Mail 13 May 2015 Adrian Hatwell of D-Photo magazine and The Photographers' Mail sat down to discuss Guy Needham's upcoming solo exhibition, Shades of Otara. As part of the Auckland Festival of Photography, the exhibition opens on Wednesday 27 July. < Previous Next >

“Why Albania?” “Why not?” “What have they done to us?” “What have they done for us?” “Nothing….” “See, they keep to themselves. Shifty. Untrustable.” < Back Why Albania 4 Jun 2015 “Why Albania?” “Why not?” “What have they done to us?” “What have they done for us?” “Nothing….” “See, they keep to themselves. Shifty. Untrustable.” No, not a weird conversation about where to holiday but a scene from Wag The Dog, where Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman are deciding who America should go to war with. Thankfully it never happened, but if it had you can bet Albania would have been ready. Dotted along its coastline are thousands of concrete bunkers to protect it from invasion - the paranoid legacy of communist dictator Enver Hoxha. It had been 20 years since communism had died and I was in Albania to see how much the country had changed. To the outside world Albania is still a mystery; a former Socialist People’s Republic “somewhere near Greece where everyone is poor and backward and ride donkeys and the women have moustaches” (they don’t). Sure, it’s not the most advanced country in the world but that’s what makes it so unique. Where else would you see grass being cut on the main square with a scythe? Or a foreign street named after George W Bush? My quest to discover today’s Albania began in its capital, Tirana. In the 1990s the former mayor - himself an artist - came up with the idea of painting the ubiquitous apartment blocks different colours, to brighten up residents’ lives. As a result the city’s a lot more attractive these days, but it’s never going to win a beauty pageant. No matter, what Tirana lacks in looks it makes up for in character. From the never-ending cacophony of horns as three-wheeled trucks fight with motorbikes navigating Skanderbeg Square, to elderly men warily drinking tea to pass the time of day, the capital of Albania is truly a mish-mash of east meets west with a victor yet to be decided. As the capital, all roads lead to Tirana and you certainly know when you’re on them. “Pot-holed” is an understatement but bouncing up and down in the back of a furgon taxi adds to the sense of adventure. In typical Balkan fashion these shared taxis have no set schedule (nor departure point for that matter); as soon as they’re full, they’re off. I managed to catch an early morning one and only had to wait 15 minutes before the chugging Mercedes starting making its way to my next destination, Berat. After two hours of Albanian viba-train I was relieved to finally arrive. “Somewhere near Greece where everyone is poor and backward and ride donkeys and the women have moustaches” Berat is a charming 2400 year old Ottoman town with houses built one on top of another, earning itself the moniker ‘Town of a Thousand Windows’. I was excitedly met by my host and taken to his ‘welcome room’ for a shot of rakija (a fermented alcoholic drink that’s probably illegal elsewhere). The room itself was magic: traditional curved brick walls, pigeons cooing on the sill, strings of onions hanging from rafters, and the waft of slowly cooking lamb. Another rakija was poured. “Are you going to the Xhiro tonight?” he asked. “It’s Monday so it should be good.” He pointed down to the town. The Xhiro (pronounced ‘giro’), as it turns out, is one of the most curious rituals I have come across. At a time when we might be watching primetime TV the inhabitants of Berat are walking back and forth down a closed off boulevard, dressed to the nines like its 1987. Furtive glances are exchanged as Europop seeps from the cafes. This is dating, Albania-style. In a country where pre-marriage relations are frowned upon and the Western version of ‘going out’ is non-existent, the nightly Xhiro is the one opportunity to size up potential partners. Like someone? Your relatives can talk to their relatives. We joined in – the walking, not the dating – and amongst the fried sweetcorn hawkers and popped collars you could sense the locals enjoying themselves. Berat was also where I saw another sign that times have changed. Mount Shpirag, behind the entrance to the township, once had the name “Enver” (after the former dictator) spelt out in huge letters on the mountainside. Today they’ve been rearranged to spell “N.E.V.E.R” – a very large, defiant statement not to repeat the past. Of course not all of the past was bad. My guide, a Tirana native who had spent much of his life in construction openly opined, “Under communism, we always had a job. No matter how small. Now look around you.” He waved his arm across the square. Men of working age were sitting around doing not much. It was 2:30pm on a weekday. He did admit though that since ‘freedom’ he now had enough money to send his daughter to Germany to study which he would never have been able to do “in the old days”. The final stop on my journey was Shkodra, a town bordering Montenegro. With a castle above and lake below it prides itself as being a little more Balkan-esque than the rest of Albania. Certainly, it has its fair share of al fresco restaurants, tourist-oriented ‘lodges’ and fresh food stalls; Shkodra was a cosmopolitan surprise. One of my favourite moments happened just as I was leaving town and looking to spend the last of my LEK on some meaningful souvenirs. An old woman at the bus stop dangled some woollen socks in my face in the hope that this foreigner would buy them - despite me sweltering in the 35 degree heat. I followed her back to her knitting, and after much hand gesticulation I gave her cash, she gave me some socks, and topped it off with an Albanian ‘smile’. As the bus pulled out I gave her a wee nod, and thought about all the changes she’d seen. After 20 years, capitalism had replaced communism and pester-power had replaced paranoia. The Albania of old was no longer there and yet, as the country was finding itself – with infrastructure and systems still to come – I felt lucky to have seen the Albania of today, knowing that it’s special quality would change again 20 years from now. < Previous Next >

Guy Needham's inaugural exhibition in Portugal, Os Dani, opened in Lisboa this weekend hosted by PsiRelacional and Incubator Photo Gallery. < Back Exposição os Dani 23 Sept 2025 Guy Needham's inaugural exhibition in Portugal, Os Dani, opened in Lisboa this weekend hosted by PsiRelacional and Incubator Photo Gallery. The opening night included a dialogue on "Art, Identities and Psychoanalysis", with a discussion on the role of norms, customs, and social cohesion in different societies. The exhibtiion runs for a month and has limited edition books available on The Dani exhibition in both English and Portuguese. < Previous Next >