The Future Eagle Hunters of Mongolia

“Tradition-wise, when a boy turns 13, and he’s strong enough to carry the weight of a grown eagle, his father starts training him in the ancient hunting technique. They say, that in the Kazakh tradition, there’s over a thousand ways of training and hunting using the eagle, and each family masters their own special technique. Irka Bolen was the perfect beginning to my project, since I wasn’t dealing with an eagle hunter – but rather with a small boy embarking on the quest of learning the ways of his tradition. In my work with Irka Bolen I found it to be important that I show his training alongside his father on the mountain tops.”

“Found her in the form of Ashol Pan, the daughter of an experienced eagle hunter around Han Gohadok, which is

south of Ulgii. She was perfect. I was amazed by her comfort and ease as she began handling the grand eagle for the first time in her life. She was fearlessly carrying it

on her hand and caressing it somewhat joyfully.”