06(^02)
A portrait of a young herder wearing a
handmade hat of fox fur. This traditional
Mongolian fur hat protects the wearer from
the bitter cold; temperatures in Mongolia can
plummet to –20°C during the winter months
(^05)
The Golden Eagle Festival is held in the first
weekend of October in Bayan-Ölgii province,
at the foot of the Altai Mountains. The largest
gathering of eagle hunters in the world, it is
recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural
Event. Dressed in their best hunting attire, the
eagle hunters show off their skills to thousands
of spectators who flock to Bayan-Ölgii from all
over the world
(^03)
A four-year-old girl in her family’s ger (traditional
tent) on the remote steppe. Living a nomadic life,
the family moves around three times a year,
following food sources for their animal herd (^06)
A daughter of one of the vendors who sells fox
fur hats at the Golden Eagle Festival
(^07)
Seven eagle hunters gallop across the steppe,
kicking up a cloud of dust in their wake. Kazakh
eagle hunters use golden eagles, which boast
wingspans of up to two-and-a-half metres
01
Five eagle hunters cross the steppe on their
horses, following the curve of a stream in Bayan-
Ölgii, the western-most aimag (province), home to
breathtaking landscapes. The wind howls across
the steppe, and a chill creeps its way
down from the snow-capped mountains
04
A young woman prepares her golden eagle before
a competition. The eagle hunting tradition has
been a well-regarded skill among the nomadic
Kazakh community of northwestern Mongolia
for over 1,000 years. More recently, women have
started training and competing in this sport –
once exclusively dominated by men.
MANUEL LIBRES LIBRODO JR. specialises
in travel photography, and also works in
fashion photography. His popularity among
photographers and photography fans is
evidenced by more than 27 million hits on
his website. In 2009, Scott Kelby described
Librodo as a photographer with “phenomenal
vision” who “creates pure magic”, adding
that Librodo was “one of the world’s five best
photographers whom you probably haven’t
heard about”.
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