( CNN ) Deep within the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador live the Huaorani . Photographer Trupal Pandya traveled about 30 hours by air , water and land to reach this native community and take their portraits . The Huaorani , which means `` the people '' or `` human beings , '' are believed to have inhabited the rainforest for thousands of years . Until about the 1960s , they never had any contact with the outside world . Pandya said there is a contrast between the modernization of the younger generation , who travel to areas outside of their community , and the older generation , who make efforts to maintain their traditional ways of living . Diverse changes have taken place within the community : the introduction of radios within many Huaorani homes , the consumption of food from cities and the adoption of Westernized clothing . For Pandya , these changes were a significant factor in his decision to photograph the Huaorani . `` The biggest ( reason ) was to just go out there and photograph the change before everything changes , '' Pandya said . `` I think if I would have ( photographed the Huaorani ) 10 years back down the line or a little later than that , I do n't think I would have got what I just got . '' Another aspect of modernization has to do with language . Many Huaorani , who for years have only communicated using a regional dialect , now speak the Ecuadorian native language of Spanish . Pandya speaks English , so he needed translators to interact effectively . But it is apparent from his experiences with the Huaorani that actions can certainly not only speak louder than words , but be more effectual than words when attempting to convey one 's intentions . `` I never started photographing when I ( first ) saw ( the Huaorani ) , '' he said . `` I did n't even have my camera . I waited to let them get used to me around them . I gave myself time to get a little easier around them . Even if you can not talk in the same language , I feel that you definitely connect to them as a human being . '' Social media . Follow @ CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography . Prior to creating formal portraits using his professional camera equipment and lighting , Pandya took Polaroid photos of the Huaorani that they were then able to keep . `` I think some of them saw the Polaroid for the first time , so they were really happy to see themselves like that , '' Pandya said . For his formal portraits , Pandya placed his subjects in front of a solid white background in order to portray the Huaorani in a very direct and concise manner , eliminating the presence of any distractions . `` The main reason was to have the focus only on the people and their clothes and nothing else but them as an individual , them as a human being , '' he said . Pandya 's decision to use a white background also proved effective in highlighting the coexistence between the Huaorani and the different kinds of animals they encounter daily in their natural environment . Creating portraits of the Huaorani has been a `` fascinating , challenging '' experience for Pandya , who is studying photography in New York at the Fashion Institute of Technology . After witnessing firsthand the simplicity in which the Huaorani live in harmony with their environment , Pandya said he finds himself thinking about and reflecting upon what it truly means to be satisfied and content with life . `` I think the question I ask myself is : 'Who 's richer ? ' `` he said . `` ( This has been ) a really big learning curve of how to just live a very beautiful , normal life . '' Trupal Pandya is an Indian photographer studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York . You can follow him on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook .
Photographer Trupal Pandya took portraits of the Polaroid people in Ecuador 's rainforest . The community is beginning to modernize , but it still maintains its traditional ways of living .