1998 Photo Contest, Nature, 1st prize
Photographer

Gideon Mendel

Network Photographers for Condé Nast Traveler

01 January, 1997

An old woman uses her teeth to strip bark from a reed which she will use to tie up saplings for the construction of a hut. The traditional lifestyle of the hunter-gatherers of southern Africa (Namibia and South Africa) known as bushmen is on the edge of extinction. Yet a few villages continue their attempts to be self-sufficient, supplementing what the land yields with a little cattle farming.

About the photographer

Gideon Mendel

Born in Johannesburg in 1959, he studied psychology and African history at the University of Cape Town. Following his studies he became a freelance photographer, photographing ch...

This image is collected in