I came here looking for grand scenery but went away with rather different thoughts in my head, after visiting the grave of French painter, Paul Gaugin, who spent the last few years of his life here, up to his death in 1903. What did he find in this remote, alien culture that made him break away from his secure middle-class world, abandoning family, influential friends and job in Paris, refusing to accept easy glory and easy gain?

"In art, all who have done something other than their predecessors have merited the epithet of revolutionary; and it is they alone who are masters."

Paul Gaugin

Basalt needles, north coast,
Nuku Hiva

Son of owner of Pension Gauguin,
Hiva Oa

Seen from helicopter approach
to Taiohae, Nuku Hiva.

A canyon running off the Toovii
plateau, Nuku Hiva

Adriana Swarbrick on the beach at
Taiohae, Nuku Hiva

Flamboyant tree at
Taiohae, Nuku Hiva

A typical small atoll seen
from flight to Marquesas

Hatiheu Bay from
Teavaitapuhiva Pass, Nuku Hiva

Children at Taao,
Hiva Oa

For image licensing or to purchase a print, contact Ian Swarbrick
e-mail: imagesfromthewild@bluewin.ch
Rehetobelstrasse 34, CH9000 St Gallen, Switzerland
Tel: 0041 71 245 29 17
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