look / éric valli / gurung honey hunters

Éric Valli is a French photographer and film maker.

in 2004 he shot these photos, documenting honey hunting by the Gurung tribesmen of west-central Nepal, a community who live in the foothills of the Himalayas.

twice a year, the Gurung men scale the cliffs that are home of the world’s largest honeybee, Apis laboriosa, to collect their honey, using traditional methods in a harvest ritual.

unfortunately, Nepal’s forestry department has been trying to profiteer off the demand for the honey, allowing harvesting by private contractors.

read the National Geographic article about this here.

more on Éric here.

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