This series is an exploration of the yet unexplored crack in the male psyche, the shadow of the feminine. As a photographer, experimenting beyond my documentary work, I saw an ecstatic joy in these men that mesmerizes me and rings deep into my own sensitive core. Exploring this feminine shadow, I witnessed courage and kindness. To be a male embracing this softness, to let oneself inhabit that sacred space, that in-betweenness, I see as a powerful act of strength and humanity, not sexuality. Muscles may contract in front of the camera, the chest puffs up, the eyes pierce through a serious brow ... is this the ego playing tricks? The attempt to look strong exposes something much deeper, a vulnerability, a beautiful strength. Looking more closely, the men soften, answering to an earlier stage of innocence, of unconditional love, when they once sat on the lap of their mothers. All image titles are my poetic translation of the Urdu name(s) of the people appearing in the image. All images were made in Pakistan (Baluchistan and Sindh provinces). About the work All the work presented here was made during 2 expeditions on foot in Pakistan (2021 and 2022). For 200km (130 miles), I walked on ancient trails with a group of Sufi pilgrims. Away from civilization, carrying all our belongings, we slept under the stars after long days crossing the mountains and desert of Baluchistan. I first met these pilgrims at a Sufi gathering in 2008 and heard about this walk. Years later, with their faces still in my head, I returned and joined them on this pilgrimage. They all walked fast, purposefully, often singing their passion for God, a caravan spreading for days, fueled by this intense spiritual quest, sprinkled with laughter. Most of all, they impressed me by their emanating kindness. I simply needed to photograph them.

Once a year, at the shrine of Sehwan Sharif in South Pakistan, an eclectic group of Sufi believers heads across Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, from water holes to water holes to reach another shrine. In extreme heat and difficult conditions, we followed them for 14 days and 180 Km across desert and mountain passes. Most of these Sufi pilgrims live a minimalist life, having barely any possessions, often single men or women that swapped the materialistic life for a life of devotion, walking old sacred routes and staying in shrines, living off alms. They can wear black cloth or colourful garments, some have long dreadlocks, others weight themselves with up to 40 Kg of chains tied up to their body. There is an air of anarchy, a pursuit of freedom; it made me think of them as the punks of Pakistan. Many smoke large quantities of marijuana. They come alone, some with families, some even bring their pigeons for blessings. They all walk very fast, purposefully, often singing their passion for God, a long caravan spreading for days, fuelled by this intense spiritual quest, sprinkled with laughter. At night, we slept under the stars. This is the story of Qismat Ali, Haji Baba, the two Sultan Fakir, Raja Aslam, Manzoor Ahmad and so many others. My love goes to them. _____ Some new Urdu words I learned: Ziker: meditation Rooh: soul Ikhlaq: morale Sakhi: generous Bekharz: selfless Hidayat: guidance Kabuter: pigeon

By the volcanoes of Pakistan, a Hindu goddess lives on. The windswept hills of western Pakistan have witnessed the rise and fall of empires.
 Situated on an ancient trade route between East and West, Balochistan province remains infused with centuries of Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Sufi heritage. Stretching hundreds of miles along the Arabian Sea, its otherworldly coast is considered home to the divine. Every spring, more than 40,000 people flood the monochromatic landscape to honor the goddess Sati and cleanse their sins through a series of rituals during Hinglaj Yatra—the largest Hindu pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority nation. Taking place in the desert of Baluchistan below the volcanoes of Chandragup, this yearly pilgrimage is the largest Hindu gathering in Pakistan. A story and videos : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/01/muslim-majority-country-hindu-goddess-lives-pakistan-pictures/

Global Story on Air pollution shot in Mongolia, India, Indonesia, Iran, France and Spain. Air Pollution accounts for seven million premature deaths a year and can be harmful even at low levels. But it’s a problem we can solve Text from © Beth Gardiner. "When Covid-19 began tearing around the globe, Francesca Dominici suspected air pollution was increasing the death toll. It was the logical conclusion of everything scientists knew about dirty air and everything they were learning about the novel coronavirus. People in polluted places are more likely to have chronic illnesses, and such patients are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. What’s more, air pollution can weaken the immune system and inflame the airways, leaving the body less able to fight off a respiratory virus. Many experts saw the possible connection, but Dominici, a biostatistics professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was uniquely equipped to test it. She and her colleagues have spent years creating an extraordinary data platform, one that aligns information on the health of tens of millions of Americans with a day-by-day summary of the air they’ve been breathing since 2000. Dominici explained it to me last summer on a video call from her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her pandemic puppy, a black Lab, squirmed on her lap. In London, where I sat in my home office, the brief respite in traffic provided by the initial lockdown had ended, and diesel fumes once again clouded the air." _____________ Focus on Mongolia: Kids suffer most in one of Earth's most polluted cities. In winter, coal stoves and power plants choke Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, with smoke - and lung disease. Air pollution in a global phenomenon. 91% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality exceeds the World Health Organization guideline limits (WHO). WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles (Pm 2.5) in polluted air that lead to diseases such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections, including pneumonia. Worldwide more deaths per year are linked to air pollution than to automobile accidents. In the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, the combination of climate change, an increasing population, limited infrastructure and heavy dependence on coal has created one of the worst cases of air pollution in the world. Images and Videos here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/mongolia-air-pollution/ https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17842403014494815/?hl=en

Inside one of Pakistan’s Remote Region - Where Modernity Meets Tradition Text ©Matthieu Paley Over the years, a mountainous region in Pakistan has become my second home. I’ve seen firsthand how global events have hurt locals’ livelihoods and how technology has challenged the meaning of tradition. PASU, Pakistan—Sajid Alvi is excited. He just got a grant to study in Sweden. “My Ph.D. is about friction in turbo jet engines,” Alvi says. “I will work on developing new aerospace materials—real geeky stuff!” Alvi’s relatives have come to bid him farewell as he prepares to leave his mountain village and study in a new country, some 3,000 miles away. “We will see you again,” one of them says as they hang out in the potato field in front of Alvi’s house. “You know you won’t get far with a long beard like that. You look like Taliban!” Alvi, dressed in low-hanging shorts and a Yankees cap, is far from a fundamentalist: He’s Wakhi, part of an ethnic group with Persian origins. And like everyone else here, he is Ismaili—a follower of a moderate branch of Islam whose imam is the Aga Khan, currently residing in France. There are about 15 million Ismailis around the world, and 20,000 live here in the Gojal region of northern Pakistan. I’ve been visiting Gojal for 17 years, and I’ve watched as lives like Alvi’s have become more common here. Surrounded by the mighty Karakoram Mountains, the Ismailis here have long been relatively isolated, seeing tourists but little else of global events. But now, an improved highway and the arrival of mobile phones have let the outside world in, bringing new lifestyles and opportunities: Children grow up and head off to university, fashions change, and technology reshapes tradition. Gojal has adjusted to all of this, surprising me every time I return by showing me just how adaptable traditions can be. Full story here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/10/gojali-pakistan-islam/

What It’s Like Living in One of the Hottest Cities on Earth The city of Jacobabad in Pakistan may well be the hottest city in Pakistan, in Asia and possibly in the world. What is it like to live in a city where temperature regularly rise above 50C (122F)? "It’s just after 7 in the morning in the Pakistani city of Jacobabad, and donkey-cart driver Ahsan Khosoo is already drenched in sweat. For the past two hours, the 24-year-old laborer has been hauling jugs of drinking water to local residences. When the water invariably spills from the blue jerricans, it hits the pavement with an audible hiss and turns to steam. It’s hot, he agrees, but that’s not an excuse to stop. The heat will only increase as the day wears on, and what choice does he have? “Even if it were so hot as if the land were on fire, we would keep working.” He pauses to douse his head with a bucket of water.

 Jacobabad may well be the hottest city in Pakistan, in Asia and possibly in the world. Khosoo shakes his head in resignation. “Climate change. It’s the problem of our area. Gradually the temperatures are rising, and next year it will increase even more.”

 The week before I arrived in Jacobabad, the city had reached a scorching 51.1°C (124°F). Similar temperatures in Sahiwal, in a neighboring province, combined with a power outage, had killed eight babies in a hospital ICU when the air-conditioning cut out. Summer in Sindh province is no joke. People die.

" Full story and text ©Aryn Baker, with Images by ©Matthieu Paley : https://time.com/longform/jacobabad-extreme-heat/

A quiet day in the life of Radhika, in the foothills of the Himalaya. Unpublished story

Walking across Delhi to document the assault on the environement, from water to air. "The stretch of the Yamuna river that flows through Delhi is only 2 percent of the river, but accounts for 80 percent of the river’s pollution. Because of the high level of pollution, authorities have instructed people not to wash their animals in the river." Full Story here : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/160425-new-delhi-most-polluted-city-matthieu-paley

This work is currently funded thanks to a grant from the National Geographic Society 2020.

An unpublished story shot for National Geographic. Laya village, inhabited by the Layap people, is Bhutan’s remotest village and the country's highest settlement (3820m). The face of the village is changing, as a road is slowly being built. For now, it still takes 2 days walk to reach the village, helped by horses and yaks. But cultural changes are palpable, social media in particular is having a big impact on relationships. The community’s dress is getting less and less, the youth prefers the “Supreme” shirts. Polyandry, a local marital practice, is getting rarer. Additionally, over the last 10 years, the famous Cordyceps worm is found in the upper elevations near the village. Pushed by an increasing demand coming from China, it has brought much wealth to this region. And with wealth comes even more changes.

Text and images by ©Matthieu Paley "What goes on in the mind of the dedicated wanderer? Is it about a spiritual quest, a need for clarity, healing? That question has always fascinated me. 
Some of my greatest memories have happened while on monthlong treks. It may have just been the endorphins speaking, but I experienced moments where my life seemed a clear line—I knew where I stood and where I wanted to go.
On a long stretch of highway between Delhi and Maharashtra, I first saw a fleeting figure on the periphery of my vision. It seemed odd … Was someone really walking on the highway? Even in India, it’s not easy to stop on the freeway, so I drove on.
I saw another on the opposite side of the road. At the last second, I veered into the exit lane, reversed the car and asked my family to please wait.
Trucks were speeding by. The heat coming from the highway was intense. The man was covered in blankets, wearing two different shoes. No bag, no water. He had a determined look on his face. "My name is Binod Yasin. I am walking ahead," he said when I introduced myself.
"But Binod is a Hindu name and Yasin is a Muslim name?" I asked, slightly confused at the combination of the two.
"Yes. Does it matter? We are all under one," he replied.
I took a picture and he walked on. What a strange contrast between his enlightened quest and the fresh asphalt below our feet. I was hooked." Full story here : https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/paley-india-highway-walkers

Hot ground. NASA’s satellites surveys from 2003 to 2010 testify that the hottest land surface temperature on Earth is located in the incredible Lut desert in Iran. On this scientific expedition, the surface of the sand was measured at 78.2 °C (172.8°F), the highest ever recorded. The Lut desert host flora and unusual adaptable fauna such as lizards and foxes, which scientists are currently studying.

A book project about Turkey's cultural diversity. Images and Videos here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/slideshow/partner-content-hidden-turkey-revealed

This is an on going project. For 2 weeks, I followed the Narmada river, watching it through the eyes of the “Parikramas”, the pilgrims accomplishing this circumambulation through the geographical center of India. It is the longest pilgrimage: some 7200Km (4500 Miles) across the heart of India, following the Narmada river, never crossing it once: barefoot, with all you need on your back, going through India’s largest hardwood forests, through National parks and walking along highways, most of it across Gondi tribal territory, the original inhabitants of India known for their animist practices. It is the only river in the world that worshippers circumambulate: they walk from its holy source to the ocean, cross its vast estuary (a dangerous boat journey), and walk back up on the opposite bank, all the way to its source. Unsurprisingly, this is not a brief journey. Pilgrims usually take a minimum of 6 months to do it. Sadhus stick to the Hindu holy numbers and are on the road for 3 years, 3 months and 13 days. Regardless, thousands of people do the pilgrimage each year, most of them elderly and full of dedication, “The river, she is our mother, we breathe with her. She is a part of us, we are a part of her.” Band of white bearded brothers, old couples, solitary walkers, they are all easily recognisable by their white cloth. It’s the last wish on their spiritual bucket list, the one you do before you die; some of them do en route, usually from exhaustion. But in recent years, younger pilgrims are also joining the movement. They are looking for an escape from the rat race, a way to reconnect with their spiritual India, through their feet – like Pratik, a cement seller then software developer who dropped it all. “Like so many of us, I was burned out. I left on this pilgrimage because I wanted to think of nothing and focus on everything. Now I only carry a few books, holy Narmada water and this small Nokia phone - I know I shouldn’t, but my mum is too worried”. This story is unpublished.

Below the mighty Nanda Devi, a mountain known as the Goddess of Happiness, there is a quiet people living in the foothills of the Himalayas. Away from the main road, my family and I lived in a mud house for a few weeks, the rhythm of our lives given by the celebrations, weddings, old Hindu rites and folk stories.   Uttarakhand province, India. Unpublished story.

We were in Delhi, India and we needed to travel. With the help of a friend we bought a second hand mini van, a Maruti Eeco. It was so tiny. We built a bed for us in the back, my older son (10 years old) slept across the front seats, our younger one (5 years old) hung in a hamac above our feet. Indian don't travel much by van. We were a curiosity everywhere we went. "What about the tigers, isn't that dangerous?". We took the school on the road. 10.000 km across parts of India: the only problem really were the giant invisible speed bumps, the occasional tractor going the wrong way on the highway, and the inevitable drunk showing up at sunset that would stick around for too long. The rest was wonderful... This is an unpublished story

"Choosing a wedding date in Nepal—the small mountainous country nestled in between China and India—has always been a big deal. Across the world, to the annoyance of couples everywhere, “What’s the date?” is often the first question after the engagement is announced. And while in the United States, the couple may talk to family and friends regarding their availability and check to see if their first-choice venue has already been booked, in Nepal, an astrologer makes this major decision. “Back when marriages were almost all arranged, the astrologer would look at each person’s chart and based on the placement of the sun and the moon at the time of their births, an auspicious date would be chosen,” explains Sneha Shrestha, the founder of Sight Impact, a company that provides bespoke travel experiences to Nepal. Sneha was married a few years back in a traditional seven-day Nepalese wedding, and has also been to her fair share of friends’ and family members’ celebrations. “These days an astrologer might come up with a few auspicious dates,” she says. “And then, the couple’s families pick one.” " Kathmandu, Nepal. Full story here : https://www.vogue.com/projects/13534534/love-marriage-nepal-wedding

A team of scientists, artists, sportsmen and videographers spent 10 days on a sailing boat in the Azores islands, to investigate the relationship between the ocean world and us humans. I was invited to take pictures.

Part of my Perfect Stranger series.

A visual journey through Abu Dhabi. The geography of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi—spread between Arabian Gulf beaches and one of the world’s most iconic deserts—means all roads lead to sand. For explorers, that’s a good thing. Activities: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/branded-content-abu-dhabi-adventure-activities City Guide: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/abu-dhabi-city-guide Architecture: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/architecture-abu-dhabi-photo-gallery

Dwarf-sized country with giant strategic importance, Djibouti lies at the heart of a troubled spot in the Horn of Africa. Of prime importance in the world of geopolitics, it is a country of armies, secret services, refugees, aid organizations and wheeler-dealers.

Isolated in the Pacific, the island of Nauru, world's smallest republic, was once world's richest country because of phosphate resources. Nauru holds currently diabetes and obesity highest levels though weightlifting is the national sport. Following state bankruptcy, detention center opened for political refugees. Funded by a grant from Festival Photo de Mer.

A road trip across the USA, from New York to San Francisco, inspired by Jack Kerouac's book "On the Road", focusing on nomadic America, the people moving because of work reasons or out of ideology: hobos, musicians, hippies, custom harvesters, cowboys or Indians. Part of a book project, see in my Book Gallery here : https://paleyphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Book-Dans-les-Roues-de-Jack-Kerouac-Portraits-dune-Amerique-Nomade/G0000oMnOqVXc8XI/C0000YwS6KgetAbw

Anything that ends with a "stan" will have my attention. Here are some wanderings across Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan and the smells of the old Silk Road.