2026 has been a big year for the Vatwa of Angola already - appearing in Rome and Boston - and now getting ready for Melbourne in April < Back 2026 for the Vatwa 9 Jan 2026 2026 has been a big year for the Vatwa of Angola already - appearing in Rome and Boston - and now getting ready for Melbourne in April From 8 April - 6 May 2026 the Vatwa will be on display at Ladder Art Space in Australia. 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. A select number of curated portraits will be on show in the Kew gallery, highlighting the striking Vatwa women, covered in a red paste of ochre clay, animal fats and lotion that makes their skin shine in the unrelenting sun. < Previous Next >

In today's Herald on Sunday's travel cover story , Guy Needham visits Procida — the quiet, colourful island in the Gulf of Naples that locals insist has none of the "boom-boom-boom" of its flashier neighbour Ischia. They're only half right. < Back Salve Procida in the Herald on Sunday 2 Aug 2026 In today's Herald on Sunday's travel cover story , Guy Needham visits Procida — the quiet, colourful island in the Gulf of Naples that locals insist has none of the "boom-boom-boom" of its flashier neighbour Ischia. They're only half right. From a taxi driver who took over the family business from her father, to a thousand-year-old abbey abandoned by monks after one too many pirate raids, there's plenty going on in Procida beyond the pastel houses on the postcards. You can read it online here . < Previous Next >

The feature image of the Shades of Otara series is on show this week at the 2018 London Photo Festival. < Back Resting at London Photo Festival 15 May 2018 The feature image of the Shades of Otara series is on show this week at the 2018 London Photo Festival. Part of an international group exhibition on Street Photography, it is on show at St George the Martyr Church until 19 May. The image balances a young man's physical exhaustion with a girl looking on, licking an ice-cream as if it was her reward for his hard work. < Previous Next >

Last night the Dani exhibition, produced by Portugal's Incubator Gallery and MIRA Galleries, opened in Porto with photographer Guy Needham in attendance to share what it was like living with the unique tribe. < Back os Dani no Porto 13 Jun 2026 Last night the Dani exhibition, produced by Portugal's Incubator Gallery and MIRA Galleries, opened in Porto with photographer Guy Needham in attendance to share what it was like living with the unique tribe. The artist talk included a slideshow showing unfiltered images of the traditional village and daily life. During the opening questions ranged from the Dani's belief system and values, to photographic styles, to expedition logistics - all while a traditional horim (penis protector) was passed around the audience. The exhibition is being held at MIRA Galleries, 68 Padre António Vieira Street, from now until 26 June and you can find out more at miragalerias.net MIRA Galleries are part of the RPAC Rede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea and have been awarded the gold medal for cultural merit (CMP). < Previous Next >

Nashi Boy, as featured in Metro magazine and the Royal Photographic Society's The Decisive Moment, has been selected for a street photography book and exhibition in Italy. < Back Tales of the Unwritten 21 Apr 2021 Nashi Boy, as featured in Metro magazine and the Royal Photographic Society's The Decisive Moment, has been selected for a street photography book and exhibition in Italy. The 'Tales of the Unwritten' exhibition opens on 10th October, at Stelio Crise State Library in Trieste. The image of young Semi popping out amongst the nashis was part of Shades of Otara - a three-year personal project to pay tribute to the workers of the Otara Markets. < Previous Next >

Aman Ipai, one of the feature images of Guy Needham's The Mentawai of Indonesia series, has been selected by the Los Angeles Centre of Photography for a group exhibition. < Back LA meets Siberut 27 Jun 2018 Aman Ipai, one of the feature images of Guy Needham's The Mentawai of Indonesia series, has been selected by the Los Angeles Centre of Photography for a group exhibition. The photograph, taken as he stood in the doorway of his uma on the island of Siberut, will be available for Angelenos to see in person from July 19th - September 7th. < Previous Next >

Online photography magazine F-Stop has included two of the Hadzabe series in its June issue - Hadzabe Boy and Hadzabe Kudu. < Back Hadzabe Kudu in F-Stop magazin 2 Jun 2020 Online photography magazine F-Stop has included two of the Hadzabe series in its June issue - Hadzabe Boy and Hadzabe Kudu. The magazine features contemporary photography from established and emerging photographers from around the world with each issue's theme uniting photographs to create a dynamic dialogue among the artists. < Previous Next >

Fieldfare - a print journal celebrating our connection to place with a longer, slower read - recently published its favourite reader travel photos on Substack. Mine was one of them... < Back Thinking clouds 9 Jul 2025 Fieldfare - a print journal celebrating our connection to place with a longer, slower read - recently published its favourite reader travel photos on Substack. Mine was one of them... “Southwestern Angola, 2 weeks ago. I was staying in the small town of Oncocua and walking to a nearby village. I love the colour palette of the land, building and sky, with the dog just wandering past. The building looking like it has ‘thinking clouds’ appeals to my sense of humour”. You can see the whole gallery here . < Previous Next >

Guy Needham's latest article about voluntourism in Ethiopia is the cover story of the New Zealand Herald's travel section. < Back Here to Help 19 Jan 2016 Guy Needham's latest article about voluntourism in Ethiopia is the cover story of the New Zealand Herald's travel section. Covering his adventures working with Big Beyond, an NGO working out of the Lower Valley of the Omo, the article follows his time with the Hamar tribe. < Previous Next >

Some of Guy Needham's images marking the 20th anniversary of the 90s wars in the Balkans recently featured in a New York City digital exhibition, The Story of The Creative. < Back Story of the Creative 1 May 2014 Some of Guy Needham's images marking the 20th anniversary of the 90s wars in the Balkans recently featured in a New York City digital exhibition, The Story of The Creative. It was one of the largest events ever put on by See|Me, featuring artists from all over the worlds in two venues in New York City, including their exhibition space at 19-26 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, Queens. < Previous Next >

The Royal Photographic Society, one of the world's premium photography institutions, is featuring a gallery of Shades of Otara on their website. < Back Royal Photographic Society meets Otara 13 Sept 2017 The Royal Photographic Society, one of the world's premium photography institutions, is featuring a gallery of Shades of Otara on their website. The exhibition was included in the Society's Documentary magazine, The Decisive Moment. < Previous Next >

We both looked up. It was a strange sound, obviously unfamiliar to my host. “When was the last time it rained here?” I asked. A pause. “Um… this is the first time this year. Might settle the dust though,” said Nick laconically. Perhaps a good omen to mark the centenary of what some would say is Australia’s strangest town. < Back The Strangest Town in Australia 26 Apr 2015 We both looked up. It was a strange sound, obviously unfamiliar to my host. “When was the last time it rained here?” I asked. A pause. “Um… this is the first time this year. Might settle the dust though,” said Nick laconically. Perhaps a good omen to mark the centenary of what some would say is Australia’s strangest town. I was in Coober Pedy, located in the desert of the South Australian outback, a red dirt town under big blue skies. It’s a town that was founded 100 years ago on opal mining, a town where 50% of the population live underground, and a town that hadn’t seen rain for a while. As the showers gently eased Nick, the owner of The Lookout Cave Underground Hotel, commended me for visiting during the ‘colder’ months (it was 31° outside). In January it had been an unbearable 43°. The locals avoid the worst of it by living in ‘dugout’ homes excavated out of sandstone hills, giving them a constant 22° and respite from the harsh desert heat and dust. Unlike ‘mole holes’ these homes – like my underground hotel room – are generally at ground level, super quiet and thankfully not claustrophobic. When the rain stopped Nick pointed out the air vents that dotted the landscape, rising like metallic mushrooms giving air to the dugouts below. Google Maps had already shown me that Coober Pedy was going to be different: the reddy-brown landscape, few structures, fewer roads and lots of dirt. But what the town lacks in looks it makes up for in superlatives: it is, after all, the Opal Capital of the World, down the road is the Largest Cattle Station in the World, cutting through it is the Longest Man-made Structure in the World, there’s the Driest Golf Course in the World and of course, the Largest Underground Hotel in the World (capitals intended). I think it also has the most flies in the world. I’d timed my visit with the Coober Pedy Opal Festival, which this year was celebrating 100 years since fourteen-year-old Willie Hutchison found the first opal there. The festival kicked off with the annual Street Parade, hosted by jovial MCs keeping the crowd entertained under the blazing mid morning sun. Slowly the flotilla came into view, heavy mining trucks leading the way followed by local businesses, AFL fans and the obligatory Mines Rescue vehicles. In a town of only 3500 if you weren’t in the parade you were cheering it on from the sidelines. “Where you from eh fella?” asked the aboriginal man next to me, from under his Akubra hat. I told him and then David Mindi Crombie told me his life story. Born inside an open-cut opal pit with his twin brother. Famous for writing songs about Coober Pedy. Performed at the Sydney Opera House on a national tour. Named Coober Pedy Citizen of the Year (1992). A Justice of the Peace. Singing tonight at the pub up the road. I’d picked a good person to sit next to. Nick commended me for visiting during the ‘colder’ months (it was 31° outside). The Opal Festival also coincided with Easter so there was no better time to visit one of the town’s underground churches. Father Brian Mathews welcomed me at the door of Saint Peter’s and Paul’s and patiently took me through its history. “The parish is rather large I guess,” he said, standing in front of a wall map. “And we don’t always have a church everywhere. Last week I had mass in the dining room of a pub.” He drew his finger across the boundaries. It went up to Uluru, touched Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales. This priest was responsible for a parish area bigger than Texas. Across from the church was one of the town’s two dozen opal jewellery stores, which makes sense when you consider that 85% of Australia’s opals come from Coober Pedy. “They’re all individual, that’s what makes each one so special,” said George of Opalios, peering up with his jewellery magnifiers still on while polishing a stone. “It doesn’t matter what type of opal you like - cut, rough, milky, black, pinfire – it’s bound to be different to what anyone else has.” He pulled out a solid opal set in 18k gold. Price? A steal at $12,500. The dirty end of the business was found at Tom’s Working Opal Mine. After the briefing and donning a hard hat, I wound my way down 12 metres underground. Blower pipes, Caldwell shafts, pillar bashing, explosive setting, sump tunnels - there’s a lot to this opal mining gig. Which explains the numerous abandoned drill holes in the area (“Beware deep shafts” “Don’t walk backwards” the signs warn). Even the town’s name comes from the Aboriginal kupa-piti meaning ‘white man in a hole’. The landscapes weren’t just a potholed mess though; this was the scenery that had starred in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Max Mad: Beyond Thunderdome so I arranged to explore more. “Today we’re gonna go off road for about 600k’s,” said Rowie as I put my seatbelt on. Peter Rowe isn’t your typical tour guide. He’s an official Australia Post contractor and I was joining him on ‘mail run’ from Coober Pedy to William Creek to Oodnadatta. The 12-hour drive would take us across the Great Artesian Basin to the edge of the Victorian Desert. First stop was Anna Creek Station, the largest cattle ranch on the planet at a whopping 24,000km2 – that’s 6,000,000 acres. To give you a sense of scale, the distance from the property boundary to the unassuming homestead is further then the distance from Auckland to Hamilton. No one was home but Peter dropped off the mail, disturbing hundreds of screeching Corella birds all wanting to make their presence known. To get to Anna Creek we had to pass the Dog Fence, designed to keep dingoes away from livestock. The fence is twice as long as The Great Wall of China; 5600kms of protective barbed wire and posts weaving across three Australian states. William Creek (pop. 6) is a town so small that it’s entirely surrounded by Anna Creek Station. One thing it does have though – aside from a pub – is an outdoor ‘rocket museum’. I had to squint to read it but that’s what it said: the metal carcass in front of me was part of a rocket used to launch a British satellite from the nearby Woomera Rocket Range. Impressed, I went back inside for some Kangaroo Yiros and a Hahn Super Dry. The unsealed road that runs from William Creek to Oodnadatta is known as the Oodnadatta Track. Partially built on the old Ghan railway line the track is at times bone jarring, very geologically diverse and a little surprising. In the distance a dingo stared at us. “Hang on to ya hat!” Peter yelled, as he turned the 4WD onto the tundra and raced towards the now scurrying dog. That particular chase was futile but we did get close to kangaroos, camels and hawks. On the way back to Coober Pedy I was regaled with more stories – from the Afghan cameleers to the unfortunate souls who perished in the desert heat. We arrived back long after dark. The week of celebrations culminated with the Coober Pedy open-air cinema. Held every second weekend it seemed like the whole town had parked up, tuned in, sat back and enjoyed the free ice creams and cheap snacks. It was one of the few above-the-ground activities in town. Of course, like any movie theatre, it began with the “Patrons: Explosives are not to be brought into this theatre” slide, a joke flashback to the old days. Staying in Coober Pedy made me realise it’s not for everyone. To be honest, it can be a little strange – like that uncle you try to avoid at Christmas – but if you’re ready to exchange more than pleasantries and are willing to be surprised, you’ll find that there’s a lot more under the surface of this unique outback town. < Previous Next >