Always At Home, Never In One Place

Documenting the world’s last remaining communities of nomads

Tat — a member of the nomadic Moken tribe — wearing hand-made Moken goggles while catching fish.

Cat Vinton is a leading British adventure and ethnographic photographer, blazing a trail in a world dominated by male adventurers. She is also, on a personal level, someone I admire beyond words and who I want to celebrate here.

From the High Himalaya to the Arctic Circle to the Andaman Sea (and many more places in between!) Cat has followed her passion of documenting the world’s remaining nomadic communities before they disappear altogether. She says that she has always felt a connection with people who move, whose wealth is not measured in possessions.

To speak to her is an education in itself; she has lived existences that many of us cannot even imagine. And we are fortunate that she is such a talented photographer, that we can relate to the people she meets through her astounding images.

Why is her work so important at this moment?

The answer to this question is simple — because of the fragility of nomadic existence. The sad irony is that those peoples who have lived so lightly on the land for thousands of years, co-existing in harmony with nature, are the first to see their homes disappear thanks to climate change, government restrictions, border controls, aggressive assimilation policies and authorities compromising their freedom to move across the land. All these changes have happened rapidly, in the past few decades, and today’s nomads face challenges that their ancestors would never have known.

A grandmother and granddaughter from the Sakten tribe, Bhutan, courtesy of Cat Vinton.

The Moken people in the Mergui Archipelago of the Andaman Sea, are truly a stateless nation, a people of the sea. They can free-dive further than almost anyone on earth, and learn to swim before they walk.

“The Moken have no notion or measure of time, they don’t know their own age, they have no concept of worry, and no word for want nor goodbye.”

But mass fishing, aggressive assimilation policies, and the changing nature of the sea they live in all pushed the Moken onto land and destroyed a centuries-old existence. Now none of them live the life that their ancestors lived for generations, a life totally surrounded by and sustained by the sea.

And this has happened in our time, on our watch.

But Cat is determined not to let their legacy die. She has begun a project with the tribe’s children, teaching them to photograph (and therefore document) their way of life so that it lives on and is not forgotten. That project has now become a book, SEEN through the eyes of the children.

And in times where gender roles in the West are changing, she also offers a perspective on being a woman in the more traditional world of the nomads and their tribes:

“I am accepted into a family on a level I don’t think a guy alone would be. I think being a strong, independent woman gives you a tenacity and sensitivity that somehow offers you a key to moments of human endeavour not often shown. We need to treasure these moments and let them be the inspiration for pushing us out there as female adventurers. We have something different — it opens us to experiencing different perspectives.

There has been a pattern on my nomad project — the nomads seem confused at the beginning — why am I alone? where are my husband and children? — but a few days in, I’ve begun to earn their trust and they seem to accept me and treat me as one of them. This intimacy has led to some rare and incredible encounters and lifelong friendships. When I arrive somewhere new the first thing I do is make a friend with a girl I’m drawn to, rather than finding a guide or translator. My entire nomad project has evolved through empathy and trust — the connections and friendships I make, and whether or not it ‘feels’ right.”

Sonam, a twelve year old girl from the Chang-Tang Pa in the High Himalaya. Image courtesy of Cat Vinton.

The Sami reindeer herders — indigenous people of the Arctic — were the very first nomadic tribe that she lived with, in 2005. The photographic work that she produced at that time was so seminal that it won the prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year Award.

“The Sámi move their herds of reindeers across the region with the seasons. Their culture has been shaped by a landscape of the Arctic Ocean, the fjords and the tundra. It was incredible to witness the Sami way of life, to learn how much the reindeer means to them — providing transport, food, clothing and shelter. Their clothing was made from sealskin and they wore a reindeer-bone belt, the reindeer skins cover the snow inside the lávvu (tipi) and always accompanied a husky excursion. Warmth is rare on the open tundra and the skins actually radiate heat — they are incredible. I have one now, on my boat [where Cat lives when she is not travelling].”

Orange Husky | courtesy of Cat Vinton and Subject Matter

Cat’s work is priceless, a document of times and peoples that we may never see again. To discover more about her Nomadic Souls project, or to support it by buying a print, please comment or message me here and I will pass it on to her. If anyone would like to donate to the Moken people of the Surin Islands or to buy the children’s book — SEEN through the eyes of the children — please get in touch with Cat directly: catvinton@mac.com.

Sabai, from the Moken tribe, courtesy of Cat Vinton

“My surprise, I think, has come more recently after living and travelling with five different nomadic peoples. It is how precious water is. To each nomadic community, it holds a value we can’t comprehend from the comfort of the modern world.” — Cat Vinton