Under the guidance of Pierre de Valombreuse, the Badjao women are involved in a daily life where their free and essential word ensures the link between families.

Whether they are camping upright on a boat in the middle of a fishing trip or casting a sharp and determined glance at the lens, the Badjao women are the first subjects of a magnificent work by Pierre de Vallombreuse published in July in partnership with the NGO Survival International France. Since 1986, the photographer has travelled the world and is committed to the respect and representation of many indigenous peoples. Unrecognised and threatened, the Badjaos present a mode of organisation in which women play a leading social role. In 2015, in a book on “these societies where women are free”, Pierre de Valombreuse already documented the essential tasks of Badjaos women who, as holders of the public voice, exchange information between the different households and control the distribution and sharing of products.

The Badjaos, “nomads of the sea”, are constantly on the move as fishermen and sailors who navigate not far from the Philippines and the island of Borneo. Although they are relatively tolerated by the riparian countries, their survival is today threatened by all kinds of illicit trafficking in the region, the arrival of Islamic terrorism and the shortage of fish due to industrial fishing. Between the traditional “houseboats” which bring together dozens of families, women ensure unbreakable and indispensable links along the water’s edge. In Badjao, we discover them, fascinatingly, in dozens of magnetic black and white portraits.

Credit : Badjao People, Mother of Sulawesi, North Boreno, State of Sabah, Malaysia. At nightfall, a woman comes to visit her parents who live in a big boat ready to leave for a few weeks for a fishing campaign. As tradition dictates, the destination remains unknown.