Johan Pourbaix

I was born in Delhi in january 1972, since my early childhood I was dreaming of going back to India and Asia. I studied photography and had a deep interest for traditional healing arts. Since I was 25, India became my favorite travel destination.

In february 2003 I decided to leave everything behind to spend a year in asia, my dream was to meet tradinal shamans. After a few months in india, I heard about the shamans from Nepal, the "Jhankri".

in july 2003 I reached kathmandu and soon an old Tamang Jhankri accepted to shear with me his knowledge. That was the start of a very hard but unforgettable initiation path.

I studied and was trained to be in trance with several Jhankri from different cast (Tamang, Gurung, Chetri & Sherpa), in this way I could discover different ethnic groups of Nepal and different ways to practice shamanism, and everytime my camera was with me...

The photographies that you can see on this website are the result of 5 years of passion and many months spended to share the daily life of these amazing healers and their familly.

I met my wife "San" during my first trip, and toghether we have now a familly connexion with a gurung familly (the 5 sisters: Anju, Manju, Sanju, Ranju & Tara. and their mother Sukh Maya Gurung).

Anju, the eldest sister ("Didi" in nepali ) is helping us for translation and without her help many precious experiences wouldn't have been possible.