People of the Sea 

According to legend, once upon a time the Sea Gypsies were farmers and lived on land. One day, a local princess was either washed out to sea by a hurricane or kidnapped by a rival ruler of their kingdom, and their king sent his subjects out to sea to search for her. They sailed for many days, trying in vain to find the missing princess. During their search, they learned about other lands and saw how other peoples lived. After failing to find the princess and fearing the wrath of their king, they decided not to return and stayed on their boats, creating the people who are now called Sea Gypsies.

The Sea Gypsies, or as they are romantically called — People of the Sea — are a distinct people, a small, lost handful of people living along the islands of Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Belonging to a particular country is very tentative and is determined by the physical location of the family, which is subject to change. Most Roma do not have passports. They do not participate in elections or censuses, and from a legal point of view, they sometimes simply do not exist.

The Sea People are now on the verge of extinction because they are losing their own self-identity. They are actively assimilating, adopting the beliefs and ways of life of the people among whom they live.

For over 6 years now, I have traveled almost every year to the islands scattered around Borneo, observing, interacting with and documenting the way of life of the Sea Gypsies.