Public Story
Coral Sea Expedition
4,869
Coral Sea Expedition
Location: Bellevue, WA
Nationality: U.S.
Biography:
Karen began her career as a photojournalist at the Colorado Springs Sun. Later she was chief photo editor for National Geographic Television and went on to serve as managing photo editor at Bill Gates' Corbis Corp. where she led the photo...
read on
Focus:
Photographer, Photojournalist, Street Art, Editor, Researcher, Travel, Documentary, Photo Editor, Photography, Foreign, Stock, Art, Culture
Skills:
Research, Photo Editing, Photojournalism
Coral Sea Expedition
After several years of hard work fundraising, researching, and planning, I traveled to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to document existing traditions along coastal areas. The goal was to witness and record cultural changes 80 years after two American artists - Caroline Mytinger and Margaret Warner - had journeyed there to paint and write about cultures in transition. In the 1920s, these areas were undergoing rapid change due to plantation development, missionary efforts and related western expansion.
Partnering with another photographer, we found descendants of Caroline's portrait subjects, and documented a rekindling of formerly outlawed cultural practices (thankfully, not headhunting). The old ways, much of them forgotten, are being studied anew and revitalized by locals. They are often synthesized with current religious beliefs. In one village we found an old-style raiding canoe that had been built using some plastic in place of abalone shell. The day we visited, the canoe was being launched in celebration of a Methodist holy day.
Our two-month long trip was an officially sanctioned flag expedition of The Explorers Club, the Society of Woman Geographers, and Wings WorldQuest.
2 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
This is what a healthy coral reef looks like. Locals near Tufi in the Central Province guide their outrigger canoes through "rias" or fjord-like waterways in this pristine environment.
3 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Ancient traditions of skull worship are preserved in remote areas of the Coral Sea, like this reliquary on Skull Island in the Solomon Islands.
4 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Interior of skull reliquary. These ancient heads were taken in neighboring raids decades ago in the belief that their power would transfer to the headhunter.
5 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Still active Tavurvur volcano in New Britain. Tavurvur erupted with a vengeance in 1994, wiping out the nearby town of Rabaul.
6 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
A local man reprises traditional costume, with sacred Tavurvur volcano in the background.
7 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Traditional carving of canoe prows is still valued. In this village in the Louisiade Archipelago, men gathered in community to build and craft this vessel.
8 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Water must be gathered from afar. These women near Tufi walk for miles to get it.
9 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
A young boy carries a Triton shell during a festival in Tawali. Tritons are often utilized as horns.
10 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Tufi villagers work for days to create traditional costumes for special festivals. The hand-held drums incorporate lizard skin, and use beads of honey to calibrate the timbre.
11 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
12 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Navigation was challenging at the far reaches of the Louisiade archipelago near Rossel Island.
13 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
All hands on deck during the launch of a traditional war canoe, these days used for Christian religious celebrations. Munda, New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands.
14 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
15 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Transiting through New Georgia Sound, Solomon Islands.
16 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
17 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Early morning along the rainy southeast coast of Papua New Guinea.
18 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
19 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
20 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Navigating over coral reefs near Tufi, Papua New Guinea.
21 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
22 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
23 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
One of the last surviving women with full body tattooing. Along the southeast coast, Papua New Guinea.
24 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Another fully tattooed elder woman with her handiwork.
25 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Peeling yams the old school way. Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.
26 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
27 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
28 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
29 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
30 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Market scene, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
31 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
Some of the impressive "rias," or fjord-like waterways near Tufi in northeastern Papua New Guinea.
32 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
33 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt
34 of 34
© 2019 ©Karen Huntt