The Nuba young men\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s body paintings are the echo of their ancestors. Their presence speaks of pride. it is not just charcoal, nor ash, nor dirt - it is identity, memory to carry the voice of their people forward. The body paint connects him to the earth, to his community. the ritual reminds him of who he is. it shows the importance of tradition and spirituality in the life of the community. That spiruality is written on his body.
The painting is primarily done with yellow and red ochre, black and white. The colors and design reflect membership in particular age, grades and families. The design is inspired by nature and contain characteristics of local plants and animals. Krongo Nuba. These are conservative Nuba that have bravely fought the Arab invasion for decades. Those are one of the first photographs that have been taken after Leni Riefenstahl\\\'s photography and narratives in 1960s til 1970s. Her photographs published in 1973 sparked worldwide controversy at the time.
Young Guéré girls protect the village by the animal spirits of the forest, particularly snakes. The so-called snake girls begin their initiation at the age of three. The community\\\'s shaman \\\'Simbo\\\' teaches them to capture the essence of nature, in the form of the soul of a snake. Moreover, the girls were trained and drilled to perfect the technique of the snake dance - dance of the Jugglers. They are neither allowed to speak, communicate, nor to smile. During the dance the girls mimic snake movements, supposedly while in trance, and demonstrate spiritual protection. When they turn 10 years old, their relationship with this brotherhood ends, and they are released to live a normal life. The snake girl ritual is usually celebrated in communities that live in isolated and difficult-to-access regions in Ivory Coast and Liberia.
– Рейтинг фотографов по странам и городам строится на основе 3-х лучших фотографий автора и их относительной позиции в каждой отдельной номинации. Рейтинг в номинации "Мобильная фотография" учитывается в меньшей степени для формирования рейтинга. В списке по странам и городам показывается одна фотография автора с лучшим рейтингом.
– В списке опубликованы только работы которые прошли 2-й этап голосования.
– В рейтинге лучших фотографий учитывается только одна — самая сильная — работа от каждого автора. Даже если у фотографа опубликовано несколько работ, в расчёте позиции используется только одна, с наивысшим рейтингом. Поэтому порядок фотографий в списке может не совпадать с итоговым положением автора в рейтинге.
– The rating of photographers by countries and cities is based on the three best photos of the author and their relative position in each separate nomination. Rating in the nomination "Mobile Photography" is taken into account to a lesser extent for rating formation. The list by country and city shows one photo of the author with the best rating.
– Only those photos have been published in the list that passed the second stage of voting.
– Only one strongest photo from each author is counted in the Best Photos ranking. Even if a photographer has several published works, only the highest-rated one is used to calculate their ranking position. As a result, the order of photos in the list may not match the author's final ranking position.
