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Blue eyes are a rare sight in Indonesia, a country
where the vast majority of the population has dark hair and dark eyes,
but some members of an indigenous tribe have the most stunning blue
eyes, because of a rare condition known as Waardenburg Syndrome.
Believed to affect about 1 in 42,000 people, Waardenburg Syndrome is
characterized by some degree of hearing loss and pigmentation
deficiencies, which can include bright blue eyes (or one blue eye and
one black/brown eye). It is caused by mutations in any of several genes
that affect the operation of neural crest cells in embryonic
development. The visual effect of Waardenburg Syndrome is particularly
impressive in ethnic groups where blue eyes are a rarity, as you can see
in the photos of members of the Buton tribe taken by Indonesian
geologist and amateur photographer Korchnoi Pasaribu.
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Buton Island, which is located in Indonesia’s Sulawesi region, is home
to the indigenous Buton people, some of whom suffer from the Waardenburg
Syndrome and have the characteristic electric blue eyes (either one or
both).
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Korchnoi Pasaribu visited Buton Island last month and took some photos
of its natives, focusing on their stunning electric blue eyes. He posted
the photos on his Instagram, and they have since gone viral, being
picked up by most major news outlets and shared massively on social
media.
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