We are surrounded by diversity, which makes each of us unique. There are animals, cultures, and people of incredible beauty and – very often – we do not have the opportunity to know them because they belong to a reality far removed from our own. However, a photographer managed to share with us a little wonder: an Indonesian tribe, the Buttons – in the south-eastern region of Sulawesi – has a particular genetic trait .
#1
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
Some members of this tribe suffer from the rare Waardenburg syndrome, which gives their eyes an electric blue color, so vivid and intense that it bewitches everyone. Waardenburg syndrome is caused by a mutation in genes and affects melanocytes, causing “abnormalities” in the pigmentation of the eyes, hair, and skin.
#2
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
It is this syndrome that makes carriers very different from most Indonesians, who tend to have dark hair and eyes.
#3
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
The photographer and geologist Pasaribu Korchnoi was fascinated by those blue eyes like ice, to which he devoted most of his shots. Some members of the tribe also have different colored eyes: one light and one dark. Mr Korchnoi says photography is a passion, not a full-time job: that’s what he loves to do.
#4
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
Being able to immortalize something unique makes him happy, and the Burton Tribe has been a great inspiration to him.
#5
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
He shares these beautiful portraits on his Instagram profile. By photographing these people, he had the opportunity to get to know them, and he claims that they do not complain of vision problems related to the syndrome. The only discomfort they experience is sudden watering eyes if their eyes are exposed to excessive light.
#6
image credit: geo.rock888/Instagram
A few shots, but incredibly evocative: the eyes of these people manage to bewitch us with their expressiveness. Getting to know a people, its diversity, its culture, its peculiarities, it’s way of life, and its daily life: Korchnoi, although not a full-time photographer, has succeeded – with only a few photos – in portraying it all perfectly and to send a strong message. Diversity is what makes us beautiful and unique in the eyes of others, and we should always be proud of that.
source used: geo.rock888/Instagram