Karen Huntt Photography | Documentary | Travel | Fine Art | Editorial

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.

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.

Ancient traditions of skull worship are preserved in remote areas of the Coral Sea, like this reliquary on Skull Island in the Solomon Islands.

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.

Still active Tavurvur volcano in New Britain. Tavurvur erupted with a vengeance in 1994, wiping out the nearby town of Rabaul.

A local man reprises traditional costume, with sacred Tavurvur volcano in the background.

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.

Water must be gathered from afar. These women near Tufi walk for miles to get it.

A young boy carries a Triton shell during a festival in Tawali. Tritons are often utilized as horns.

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.

Navigation was challenging at the far reaches of the Louisiade archipelago near Rossel Island.

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.