Chimbu warriors win best photo

A STRIKING picture of fearsome PNG tribesmen painted as skeletons has won the People’s Choice Award in a competition run by the Hamdan International Photography Award (Hipa).
The photo was taken by Indonesian photographer Herman Morrison during the Mt Hagen Cultural Show.
First staged in 1961, the show was initially held to unify warring tribes but it has become an attraction where local and international tourists can watch warriors perform.
The skeletons, part of a tribe from Chimbu, reportedly first made contact with the Western world in 1934.
Amateur photographer Pongtharin Tanthasindu captured similar images of the tribe in 2018 as part of an attempt to “showcase the richness and mysteriousness of Papua New Guinea tribes”, according to Daily Mail Australia.
“The reason why they paint themselves as skeletons is to intimidate their enemy into believing that they are not human and have some supernatural power,” he said.
Four other festivity-themed winners announced were from Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, India and Bahrain.