"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
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.
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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. ​
