Selection of images for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award nomination 2023.

In 2022, I travelled to a remote Ashaninka tribe in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. There, I met Benki Piyãko, one of the foremost spiritual leaders of the Amazon rainforest, who founded the Yorenka Tasorentsi institute - a sanctuary dedicated to preserving indigenous knowledge, cultures, and lands. The rainforest is paradoxical - it can be both abundant and threatening. The Ashaninka tribe showed me how indigenous spirituality allows all these facets to coexist without needing the rainforest to change. The ceremonial ritual of Ayahuasca, a plant-based psychedelic brew, has been an essential part of this exploration. It allows one to connect with the indigenous tribes' view of the forest, each with their unique belief systems and cultures. My journey thus far has been life-changing, documented through a series of photographs that captures the beauty and significance of the rainforest and the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge and culture.