The Akha
These photos were taken in the province of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand in July 2005. The Akha are the poorest among the hill tribes settled in the Golden Triangle, on the border between Cambodia and Myanmar. After ages of migration, the Akha’s culture risks being lost to the assimilation process imposed by the Thai government. An increasing number of villages is pressed to convert to Buddhism or Christianity.
The photos in the reportage depict daily life in one of the few remaining traditional villages. The last sequence of images depicts an animistic ritual intended to protect the corn crop.
(c) Mario Mariniello 2005.
