Mongolia
I would consider my trip to Mongolia in 2015 to be an instrumental experience that has significantly shaped my photography and particularly the appreciation for traveling to destinations less travelled with a particular focus on people.
During the trip, we travelled to the home of the Kazach-Mongolian Nomads in the Western part of the country. We spent time with nomads who had set up their tents at their summer pastures, locations which they have returned to for generations. Summer is also the time for major events for nomads. Weddings, breaking of mares, horse race, wrestling matches and other highlight take place across this very remote part of our world.
Mongolian Wedding
A newly wed couple pictured on occasion of their wedding with a traditionally decorated car.
Two Mongolian men on their horses
A horse is the most loyal companion for Mongolians helping them to cross the vast grasslands.
Waiting at the finish
The two men were waiting at the finish line for a horse race, which sees young boys race on their horse without saddle.
Churning Butter
A Mongolian woman churning butter made of yak milk inside her gir.
Mongolian Nomad Boy with Antlers
A nomad boy with deer antlers he found and intends to sell to trades men to be ultimately ground up and used as part of traditional Chinese medicine.
Girl with a young goat
A girl holding a young goat
If there is no way around, go through
Rivers quickly swell to large streams during rainy days. Thanks to trusty vehicles, experienced drivers find the a way through the water.
Tree by a lake
A lonely tree by the border of a lake with a nomad summer camp in the distance.
Milking of goats
Goats are tied in two rows and subsequently milked by women twice a day.
Braking of the mares
Once young fowls are a few years old, the mares are broken off their fowls. Thereby fowls will starting to adapt their diet with more grass, allowing the nomads to milk mares as and gain an important source for calcium to be used as a fermented drink, cheese or something resembling yoghurt.
Portrait of a Mongolian Eagle Hunter with his bird
Hunter, Eagle, Horse
Mongolian Eagle Hunter on his horse in the snow covered landscape
Camp in the middle of nowhere
A family has set up their girs in the middle of a distant valley.