For the past six years, photographer Jimmy Nelson has traversed the globe to photograph indigenous communities for his long-term project Before They. This exhibition will showcase new photographs taken in Bhutan, on show here for the first time, alongside recent images taken in remote locations across China, French Polynesia, Mongolia, Tanzania and Chad.

From Siberia to Namibia, China to Peru and South Sudan to Argentina, in all Nelson has traveled to 20 countries to photograph over 40 indigenous tribes. The project was inspired by Nelson’s fascination with the harmony between man and nature and his search for the places in the world where this was still prevalent, although often under threat from industrialisation and the theft of land and resources. The resulting photographs depict indigenous people in their traditional dress both against dramatic natural backdrops, or interior portraits shot in the style of Dutch old master paintings. The images are not intended as a factual, ethnographical representation, rather an aesthetic celebration and personal interpretation of the variety and beauty of indigenous culture.

Before They runs from 24 February to 8 April 2017 at Atlas Gallery, 49 Dorset Street, London, W1U 7NF.