Photojournalism nominee

The nomadic Rautes are the last hunters and gatherers of the Himalayas. The Rautes, who call themselves Kings of Forests, subsist on langur and macaque monkeys, wild yams, rice and a few kinds of vegetables traded from local farmers. Their main occupation is to trade and exchange of wooden items in nearby villages and bazaars. They migrate from river valleys up to middle hills in the Western parts of Nepal living in temporary camps hidden away from the villages in remote parts of the forests. The nomadic Rautes belong to nowhere and everywhere, and they have their own language, culture and beliefs. The Rautes believe in the sun god Berh that represents eternity. The Rautes has managed to avoid forcible assimilation and have not settled in villages and adopted Hindu beliefs and practices. Rather they continue their traditional life travelling through the forests of Western Nepal. The Rautes continue to maintain a certain degree of secrecy and avoidance towards assimilation in order to keep their identity and to survive as a distinct community. Today, the nomadic Rautes total around 156 people. Accham, Western Nepal. January 2016.

Jan Møller Hansen (b. 1964) is a self-taught photographer, who works with visual story telling and social documentary. He has undertaken documentary photography work in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Sudan, where he lived and worked as a senior diplomat, and development/humanitarian aid specialist.

Jan Møller Hansen has won first and second prices for his documentary and photojournalistic work in the International Photographer Awards, La Grande Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, Monochrome Photography Awards, Neutral Density Photography Awards, Monovisions and other competitions. In 2015, he published the book ”Images of Nepal”, Jagadamba Press, and was recognised as the IPA People Photographer of the Year 2015.

His visual stories and documentary photography work focus on the lives and conditions of poor, marginalised and stigmatised people, living with conflict, displacement, insecurity, injustice, inequality and corruption. All his photography projects share a profound interest in human rights, dignity and the belief that everyone has the right to be recognised as a human being, regardless of social background, family relations, or