Head hunter ceremony, Arundi village, Sepik District, Papua New Guinea 1985. ©Göran Burenhult / The Image Works
The Image Works has announced the addition of the Göran Burenhult collection to their archive. The collection consists of over 50,000 photographs focusing on archaeology, anthropology, culture, heritage, nature and travel.
Göran Burenhult, Ph. D. is a world renowned archaeologist and prior to this he worked as a professional photographer. Dr. Burenhult has undertaken major world-wide archaeological expeditions. The study and documentation of traditional societies and archaeological remains has been the focus for these expeditions. A large part of his photographic documentation is unique in several ways. A majority of the images from indigenous communities were taken in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, and in many cases, for various reasons, they cannot be retaken today. Many of these societies have since left their traditional life-styles or moved into westernised, more urban settings. In other cases, traditional dances, ceremonies, body decoration, etc. are no longer performed, due to influences from the outside world. Dr. Burenhult has had research permission to enter many of these areas which were otherwise closed to visitors.