Silver 2021 / People / Culture (Non-Pro)

Daily Life In A Mundari Cattle Camp

  • Photographer
    Johan Gerrits
  • Prizes
    Silver in People/Culture

The Mundari people, from South Sudan, are cattle herders as well as fierce warriors. They live in symbiosis with their cattle and nothing is more important for them than their cows. In the Mundari cattle camps, kids are doing most of the daily work. Kids collect the fresh cow dung and put it into piles which are then set on fire. Those fire are useful as they repel the (extremely) numerous and voracious flies and mosquitoes of the South Sudanese countryside. The Mundari also use the ash created by these fires to rub themselves and their cattle, creating a protection against mosquitoes.

I was born in the east of the Netherlands. My interest for nature was one of the reasons to start 25 years ago with photography. Since then subjects changed from nature, architecture, art into people. Especially the last one takes a big role in my travelphotography. Two of my great passions in life are photography and travelling. I believe that travel broadens one's view of the world, makes you more tolerant, and reflects on our way of living and thinking. Experiencing other cultures, rituals and customs, enrichen your knowledge and deeper understanding of the world around you.