HADZABE: In Search of Lost Land

[Commissioned by BBC Sport and supported by BBC Sustainability Fund]

These initial images were made on a scout trip to the Yaeda Valley in Tanzania. The photographs are a start for work on a larger creative documentary project on the region and the impacts and effects of tourism, government initiatives, farming and pastoral tribes on Hadza land and hunter-gatherer culture.

“Watching the sparks fly into the African night, we listen mesmerized and watch as the elders enact our history – the history of humanity… They hold our wisdom and their stories become alive, attaching themselves to our minds so that they will never be forgotten.” - Hadzabe Elder

“We are Tanzanians… We are hunter-gatherers… We live off the land and have done so successfully for thousands of years even though our homeland is harsh and dry. We have no record of severe famine since we rely on many different plants and animals.”

“If you want to know who is Hadzabe, it is land. Why? Because without land there is no Hadzabe.”

“Even though we have clearly defined gender roles, men and women in our society participate equally in decision making. Our traditional economy supports this equality because all of us from an early age have the skills and knowledge to get what we need each day.”