Photographer Zay Yar Lin’s shots of Mongolian shepherds charging through the snow look straight out of a movie. But the photos, taken during a traditional winter festival, depict a battle to preserve one of Earth’s sacred ways of life.

Recounting a conversation he had with one of the herdsmen he met there, Lin told The Epoch Times that they maintain the horse-riding culture in Mongolia.

“He said young people don’t want to listen to their parents and sell their horses,” the photographer recalls. “They don’t want to work on the prairies anymore. They want to go to town and have fun.

The rapid decline of horse and herding culture in Mongolia was one of the main motivations for Lin’s visit.

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

“I would like to record this horse culture before it disappears,” he said, referring to nomadic tribal people living in East Asia.

Lin from Myanmar (formerly Burma) works as a ship’s captain but stays on the move during downtime. He enjoys telling stories through images, his work appearing in several prestigious magazines, including National Geographic. Entirely self-taught, Lin has won numerous national and international awards for her photos. One of its characteristics is to treat them with a natural look, rather than pushing contrast and color.

“Two of my sailor friends introduced me to photography when I was a first officer,” he said. “They presented me with many inspiring photos and later I realized that photography was my passion.

“I believe photography can inspire us to bring about positive change in our world.”

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

The day Lin captured local riders racing around a white grassland in Inner Mongolia, there had been a night of heavy snowfall. Since he hails from tropical climates, working in freezing temperatures, often below minus 20 degrees Celsius, was Lin’s biggest challenge, but it was worth it.

“The experience was so exciting and memorable, even though it’s hard to press the camera shutter outside in cold weather because my hands are shaking and freezing,” he said. . “Sometimes the cameras don’t work because of the temperature, and we use a heat pack to warm them up.”

It was a unique trip for Lin, who traveled with photographer friends from China and Hong Kong. While there are far fewer of them today, nomadic herders are superb riders who roam vast grasslands with their herds of sheep, goats and horses.

Moving from pasture to pasture to find better grazing areas usually results in better milk, healthier meat, and herbs that bring in more income. In areas where there is a shortage of food and water, the movement of herds prevents starvation and death, as the herd will have access to green pastures and water elsewhere.

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

(Courtesy of Zay Yar Lin)

Known as the “horse people,” Mongolian herders regard the horse as a source of joy and pride. Mongolian horses are used for travel, herding, hunting and sport, and are highly prized. During the winter festival, they are gathered for horse racing, which is held to celebrate Mongolian culture alongside camel racing and wrestling.

For Lin, it was an epic experience, one he will never forget.

“I loved the energy and skill of the shepherds and horses galloping through the snow in temperatures below -20,” he said.

After the middle of the 20th century, more and more shepherds put an end to their nomadic way of life and settled down, building mud and wooden yurt-like houses and one-story houses. Soon, there will be fewer and fewer traditional lives, which makes the Winter Festival – and work like Lin’s – more and more valuable.

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