INTERACTIVE: PHOTOS

View a few photos from the book

Web posted on:
Friday, July 09, 1999 5:52:56 PM EST

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Their expressions are vulnerable, defiant, peaceful, proud and undeniably memorable. In the book, "Enduring Spirit" (Rizzoli, 1998), Seattle photographer Phil Borges has compiled portraits of indigenous peoples from outlying reaches of Asia, Africa, South and North America. Each work offers a glimpse into the lives of Borges' subjects.

The project was undertaken for Amnesty International, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights last year. Writer Isabel Allende has contributed an introduction for the volume. And an exhibit of 50 portraits from "Enduring Spirit" is being toured in the United States and Europe.

Borges made his way to some highly remote areas, in order to find villages and tribes that are all but untouched by industry and technology. He says he usually stayed for a couple of days or weeks and got acquainted with the people in each site, using body language and direct eye contact. Although he travels with an interpreter, he says he prefers to approach people alone when he wants to photograph them. In appreciation, he offers a Polaroid photo and sometimes money.

Borges has worked off the beaten path before. "Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion" (Rizzoli, 1996) focuses on the people of Tibet under Chinese occupation. It won first place at the 1996 Banff Book Festival.

On CNN International's "Q&A," Borges told anchor Riz Khan that he wants to raise awareness of the Tibetans' plight and of how they deal with their situation.

Borges says that what impressed him the most was "seeing how they use the whole tragedy to deepen their tolerance and patience as they develop compassion."

He says he started toying with photography while in dental school in San Francisco in the 1960s. He'd take pictures of people in the Haight-Ashbury district and talk to them about what had brought them to the area. Over time, his passion for photography and compassion for people overtook him. He left dentistry and went into photography full-time.

Borges says his next project is an exploration of spiritual healing. He recently traveled in Siberia to visit several elderly women who are regarded as healers and seers.

He also plans to be in Mongolia, where he'll travel for days by horseback and Jeep to meet a group of reindeer herders known as the Tsataan people. He says there are only 30 families left in the tribe. Borges wants to preserve their shaman culture and practices on film while there's still time.