One of the first of the newly created PONANT & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC partnership expedition voyages, Ancient Cultures of Northern Australia & Papua, will explore remote parts of northern Australia and the fascinating Asmat region of near-neighbour Western New Guinea – Papua.
Travelling between Darwin and Cairns, departing 6th December this year, guests will visit remote indigenous communities while travelling in the company of National Geographic experts, including Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Jay Dickman, adding professional perspectives to enrich guest experiences both on board and ashore.
This voyage, onboard PONANT’s modern small luxury expedition ship Le Lapérouse, offers a rare opportunity to meet and interact with indigenous groups living in remote areas, and learn about their customs, traditions, spirituality and art. This will include cultural performances and traditional welcomes in several remote Aboriginal communities along with opportunities to purchase original works of art directly from the artists.
Expedition highlights include visiting the Tiwi Islands, home of the Saltwater Tiwi People, renowned for their wooden carvings – particularly of birds which have a special place in Tiwi mythology, and Elcho Island and Yirrkala, home to several renowned Aboriginal artists recognised for their spectacular traditional bark paintings – work that can be found in art galleries around the world. This is also the traditional home of the Yidaki (didgeridoo), with some of the world’s finest didgeridoos being crafted here.
In Western New Guinea, more extraordinary photo opportunities are in store when you come face-to-face with legendary Asmat tribes in their war canoes. Here, learn about their lives, customs and warrior ceremonies while as a guest in their village.
Complete details of this PONANT & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC expedition is available at https://au.ponant.com/
This PONANT & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Expedition takes advantage of Le Lapérouse’s compact size and manoeuvrability to probe hidden waterways, venturing where large ships simply cannot contemplate, before launching Zodiac® expedition boats for adventurous close-up opportunities with local flora, fauna and indigenous tribes. Throughout the voyage PONANT’s Expedition team of naturalists further enhance these experiences.
Onboard, enjoy a refined ambiance and attentive service, whilst experiencing
EXPEDITION AND PRICING DETAILS:
Ancient Cultures of Northern Australia and Papua – with National Geographic
6 December 2019 to 16 December 2019
10 nights Darwin to Cairns onboard Le Lapérouse
Pricing: From A$7,130 per person* twin share in a Deluxe Stateroom with balcony.
SPECIAL OFFERS:
- NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: This voyage features a NO Single Supplement offer enabling solo travellers to pay the same rate as the per person twin share rate!^
- WELCOME OFFER: Get A$400 per person off your stateroom when you book your first PONANT Cruise!~
T&Cs: * Price based on the Ponant Bonus fare per person, in Australian Dollars, based on a double occupancy, including port taxes, yield managed, subject to availability and correct at time of writing – 22/10/2019. ^ The “No Single Supplement” offer is available for a limited number of staterooms and according to stateroom category. Offer is limited and can change at any time. Once these staterooms are sold out, surcharges will apply. ~ Welcome Offer is in Australian Dollars per person and valid for guests travelling with PONANT for the first time. Offer is not redeemable for cash, not retroactive, and not combinable with any other offers, except the Ponant Bonus and Single Traveller Offers. Valid for new bookings only and available until further notice but can change or be withdrawn at any time. Conditions apply.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPERT:
Jay Dickman
National Geographic Photographer
Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jay Dickman has travelled to all seven continents throughout his 40-year career and has covered topics as diverse as the Olympic Games, national political conventions, the war in El Salvador, and the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Among his more than 25 assignments for the National Geographic Society, he has spent a week under the Arctic ice in a nuclear attack submarine as well as lived for three months in a Stone Age village in Papua New Guinea, where he documented a remote section of the rainforest and the issues involved with preserving or selling off huge forest tracts. A popular photography instructor, he has also published a best-selling guide called Perfect Digital Photography, as well as written numerous articles for National Geographic, Time and Forbes.
JAY DICKMAN Q&A:
- I understand you lived for three months in a Stone Age village in Papua New Guinea for National Geographic, could you tell us a little bit more about this remote region of the world?
A fascinating area of the world, with over 800 languages (languages, not dialects) spoken throughout the country. Margaret Mead, the anthropologist did much of her work here, including the studies of “cargo culture.” I spent almost three months living in an extremely remote and primitive village. During this time, I worked with Bishop Museum, out of Hawaii. We mounted an expedition into an area even locals didn’t go to (a belief that the mountain was a home to spirits, so off-limits to humans). Amazing to venture into a place where perhaps you were the first human to walk through this virgin jungle.
- On this PONANT & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC expedition cruise, traditional ceremonies and war canoes will greet you on arrival in Papua and you’ll have the opportunity to meet the Asmat people and learn of their culture and way of life. Are you looking forward to going back to Papua and what would you like to capture in your photographs?
This will be the first time I’ve returned to New Guinea since I photographed the remote village story. What I’d like to capture, photographically, is the stunning nature of the people of Papua, who in many ways haven’t changed, but reality also dictates that people move forward…so I’m very interested in seeing if there is a perceptible difference.
- Photography is as much about capturing a feeling as anything else—it’s about the essence of a place or person. What would you say are the driving motivations behind your photographs?
I love the craft of photography and I know it’s an important medium as we can capture a time and place, allowing the viewer to revisit or see for the first time how a place looks. A good photograph creates a narrative for the viewer: it tells a story, it allows the viewer to immerse themselves into the image, and a good photo has the opportunity to become the foundation of memory of that time or place.
- This expedition will give guests not only the unique opportunity to connect with some of the world’s oldest living cultures in the Tiwi Islands but to also view an amazing range of traditional paintings, sculptures, prints and craft at the Yirrkala Arts Centre. Have you visited the Northern Territory of Australia before? How has photography enabled you to connect with locals and their cultures?
I’ve worked in Australia a number of times, but haven’t been in this exact area. But, a National Geographic Photographer’s work is about the discovery of new places, perhaps a place they’ve not visited, but have researched and prepared themselves to create a narrative when arriving in that destination. Photography allows me to immerse myself in another culture, as part of our job is to capture and define the story, based on that research and study of that culture, event or place.
- What should our guests expect to learn during your workshops onboard this cruise?
I hope I can convey the sheer enthusiasm and excitement of making photographs, in addition to sharing my knowledge, so the guests become more comfortable with their camera, whether a sophisticated DSLR, Mirrorless camera, or an iPhone, this process of image-making is about creating a powerful image that holds the viewer.
- Do you have any advice for photographers who are just getting their “sea legs” with their photography? Any advice on how to produce meaningful work?
Try to become comfortable with your camera equipment, so it “gets out of the way.” If using a more sophisticated camera, and the photographer is early in their “digital career,” try using one of the very powerful “automatic” modes: Shutter, Aperture, or Program. The accuracy of today’s cameras are so great, that one can rely on the camera to do the “heavy-lifting” of creating a perfect exposure. This allows the image-maker to then focus on moment, which really drives everything in photography. Work the situation, don’t always put the camera down after making a single exposure. This is a craft that often takes some time to create the best image, and every situation does have its best photo. Maybe not the best photo ever made, but for the particular situation your photographing, there is a best moment from that.
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