Notes.

This is the Boazi tribe of the Middle Fly District of Western Province.

Within the tribe there are 6 clans - 3 water (turtle, barramundi & pelican) and 3 land (crocodile, pig & cassowary).

The stages of the initiation include the house where we all came out of in a line that you photographed, this is when a boy comes of age, is allocated his clan, learns the details of the tribe and is painted for the first time in warrior colours.

The next stage is the pig hunting ceremony (essentially taken over from tribal warfare), this includes the tribe gathering in the forest and a number of rituals before going off to war or in this case hunt, note this included the chants and firing of arrows that you photographed around the man house.

Meanwhile the women prepare bags of sago which are hung up in the pig house - the third house. On return with the pigs there is a ritual of chants and hitting the base of the house with a club. There is then allot of singsings.

Last is the final initiation in the man house after which you become a fully initiated man in your clan - this ceremony was so moving in the morning before the dignitaries arrived because the ceremony had not been done for 17 years - allot of the men came and thanked me for motivating the occasion so they could complete the process. You essentially saw all of that.

Following the final initiation the pigs are killed and all clans share in the feast then the final singsing goes all night, ending at first light the next day.

For Ian Middletons chief initiation the process spanned over 5 years.

Lynton Crabb lived in Papua New Guinea as a teenager and returned there as an adult a number of years later.

During this visit, he was inspired to photograph the country and its people for his exhibition, The Boy from PNG.

He returned to PNG to complete the material for the exhibition and spent two weeks photographing around Mt Hagan in the PNG highlands, Madang on the northern coast, New Ireland and in Port Moresby.

The 25 photographs selected for the collection were produced using a combination of traditional and digital techniques.

The exhibition captures the lifestyle of the PNG people as well as their personality and emotions.

“The photographs are about the people and their close relationship with the land and the sea, and reflect a new culture born from the integration of traditional and western lifestyles," Lynton said.

The Papua New Guinea Collection is being exhibited at various galleries and was shown at the National Gallery of Korea as part of its Photo Trionale.

Tavurvur Volcano is situated on the shore of Simpson Harbour on an island in the north of Papua New Guinea. In 1994 the volcano erupted all but wiping out the the nearby town of Rabaul and the surrounding villages. The traditional owners of the land still mark their territory with makeshift fencing as they seemingly wait for nature to return the surrounding area to green vegetation. However, this area is located on a “rim of fire”. No one knows if there will be another eruption before the new growth arrives.

This series of images was executed to assist with humanising and raising awareness of mothers and babies health and the on going need to support the work by the Burnett Institute Of Medical Research in Papua New Guinea.

This series is a commission by Ok Tedi Mining Limited to create a series of traditional dance images to hang in the international and domestic airport at Tabubil in Papua New Guinea. The final images were printed large scale onto resin. Also available for exhibition.