“We walked and walked for hours, slashing through the forest overgrowth to look for the prey,” Rodrigues said. The cinematic quality of some of the shots in the hunting scenes is a testament to the photographer’s endurance and appreciation of a highly spiritual form of sportsmanship. The Awa clearly trusted Rodrigues’ camera, and in the resulting work we can clearly see how well-versed he became with the ins and outs of the Awa way of life. Follow on Twitter to keep up with our latest work and share your comments.ĭetouring from the use of formal portraiture often seen in ethnophotography, Rodrigues’ black-and-white photos are filled with an honesty that could only come as a result of an amicable pact with his subjects.Nature’s orchestral sounds rang behind every moment, something his photographs seem to allude to. Twelve-hour hunting expeditions were common, cutting through thick jungle growth during the monsoon rains. Spending weeks without uttering words, Rodrigues immersed himself in the visual resplendence of the Awa-Guaja life in the forest. “They were incredibly friendly, and I was very well-received.”
“I pointed this way to say the sun is setting and made hand signs to ask questions about hunting,” Rodrigues recalled. Challenges abound, said Rodrigues, who was forced to communicate with hand gestures for several weeks because the tribespeople did not speak Portuguese. And yet they are extremely happy.”Ĭalling themselves Awa, Tupi-Guarani for “man,” the tribe is made of forest foragers and dexterous hunters. “Here I was, in the 21st century, with other humans who (until recently) had never seen a camera, a computer … never seen a shower and were shocked when they saw a helicopter. “I had traveled to Africa and other remote places where people at least knew what a camera was,” Rodrigues said. Rodrigues set out to document the tribe’s existence – pure, pristine and, tragically, fleeting.
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