Guidance on searching the Photographic Archive

Search
You can choose between one of two different modes for searching in the online photographic database. With "Free search", you can enter up to four terms at will or a string of characters between inverted commas. With "Keywords", a term-based navigation will guide you through the photographic database. A three-tier catalogue of keywords contains all the generic terms and subcategories necessary for describing the subjects covered by Bruno Manser's photographs. We do not claim to have set up a scientific thesaurus, which would have resulted in an unnecessarily complicated hierarchy.

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Geographic designations
Unless stated otherwise, the photographs of the Penan were taken in Sarawak, one of the Malaysian federal states on Borneo. There are also numerous photographs taken in Kalimantan, which is one of the Indonesian federal states and is also located on the island of Borneo.

Photographs taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo (which was called Zaire at the time) all contain the abbreviation "DRC" in the English version of their captions. For free searches in English, it is recommended that you use this abbreviation.

 

Ethnic designations
For the sake of simplicity, we have consistently used the name "Penan". The precise scientific term for this ethnic grouping in the eastern part of Sarawak would be "Penan Selungo" (also called Eastern Penan) to distinguish them from the "Penan Silat" (also called Western Penan) in the Belaga region.

"Nomadic" life
In applying the term "Nomad" to the Penan, we realise that it is not strictly scientifically correct. Ethnologists refer to the way the Penan live as a culture of "hunters and gatherers" (as opposed to those ethnic groups that move around with herds of animals).

Bruno Manser himself frequently used the term "Baefe" for a particular pygmy people. Ethnological research has failed to produce any clear-cut indication regarding this group. The term has otherwise only been found in the combination "Bambuti-Bashwa-Baefe", which might perhaps cover several ethnic groups in the Ituri Forest in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have, nonetheless, decided to keep this term in the captions of all photographs for which Bruno Manser used it himself.

 

Use of the photographs
If you want to use high-resolution photographs from the online database, please complete the order form provided for this purpose, including your personal details, intended use, circulation of any publication concerned and the desired resolution.
At the same time, we also ask you to confirm explicitly that you accept the Bruno Manser Fund's terms and conditions.