Inside the world's original free love community: Islanders change spouses whenever they want, have dedicated 'love huts' and settle their differences over a game of cricket

• The Trobriand Islands are in the Solomon Sea and are officially a part of Papua New Guinea
• Islanders have an easygoing attitude to sex and encourage both men and women to take lovers
• Most villages have a special hut called a bukumatula which is used for extramarital encounters
• Babies are thought to be the result of magic with no link between sex and pregnancy
• Their romantic customs don't extend to outsiders: They consider white skin and hair ugly
• Other customs include using yams and banana leaves as currency - £1 is equivalent to 50 leaves
• Trobriand Islanders were forbidden from fighting by colonial authorities so 'war' is now cricket

Chief: Mr Tolobuwa is the head of Vaikiki village and always carries betel nuts, lime gourds and spatulas. The spatula is made from bird bone but human used to be used

Customs: Little girls always wear garlands of fresh flowers on their heads while right, a widow, distinguishable by her shaved head, smiles for Lafforgue's camera

Traditional: Trobriand Islanders wear red grass skirts unique to the islands for ceremonies and weddings. Completing the look are traditional feathered headbands

In charge: Girls are encouraged to take part in 'battles' and dance topless, with most choosing to wear red grass skirts, shells, feathers and fresh flowers

Elaborate: The skirts worn by the women are made from dried grass, while necklaces and bracelets are made from shells. Men wear cockatoo feather headdresses

Permissive: Trobriand teenagers are encouraged to experiment with different lovers and a special hut, right, is set aside in every village for them to use

Education: Despite the influence of Christian teachers, the majority of Trobriand Islanders continue to take a relaxed approach to sex and relationships

Chief's family: The house of the chieftain is recognisable by its height, shell decorations and the presence of a malagan - a carved, painted totem pole

Changing times: Although some modern items such as musical instruments have been embraced, islanders cling to many traditions, including keeping pigs as pets

Is that a googly? Cricket is hugely popular and was introduced by colonial authorities. Banned from going to war, the islanders settle their differences with a game

Home sweet home: In Obweria village, the many thatched huts are built on stilts around a central square, which is known to locals as the Buka

Magic: Although many, among them seven-year-old Salome, go to school, the Trobriand Islanders continue to believe in magic and believe it is responsible for conception

Important: Because yams are a sign of wealth, yam houses - huts where the tubers are stored - are very important. Those belonging to chiefs are highly decorated

Delicate: Teenage girls wear tortoiseshell earrings which they eventually pass on to their daughters, while traditional kula boats come covered in cowrie shells

Jewellery: Most of the Trobriand Islanders sport elaborate bracelets and necklaces, all of which are made from natural materials such as shells, stones and feathers

Rare: Because the islands are coral atolls, anything made from stone is considered rare and valuable. This stone was polished and given as a wedding gift

Excitement: The weekly flight from Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea, is the most exciting moment of the week for many and draws huge crowds

War: During World War II, thousands of American soldiers were stationed on the Trobriand Islands. Vintage dog tags can be picked up for as little as 20p

Remote: The idyllic islands are home to the Trobriand Islanders, who still live in much the same way as they always have - including fishing from wooden canoes

Paradise: The remote Trobriand Islands are a tiny knot of coral atolls surrounded by the Solomon Sea and just off the east coast of Papua New Guinea 

It's the original free love community where women rule the roost: Welcome to the gorgeous Trobriand Islands in the South Pacific where the ladies can have as many lovers as they please and marriages are sealed with a gift of yams and polished stone.

And as you'd expect from a place where free love rules the roost, conflicts on the islands, which are officially part of Papua New Guinea, are settled over marathon games of cricket in which even girls can take part.

But, as photographer Eric Lafforgue reveals, their easygoing attitude to sex has come at a price. 'Trobiand Islanders have a relaxed approach to sex before and even after marriage,' he explains. 'Girls learn about contraception very early and virginity has no value at all.

'If a girl gets pregnant, her family keeps the baby, because, according to the local custom, men just help to open up the woman to pregnancy - the real father is a Baloma or spirit.'

Although more and more islanders are attending school, attitudes to sex remain the same. 'Western education changed some islander's point of view, but not all of them,' explains Lafforgue. 

'Relationships between married couples don't have much in common with what happens in Europe: here [in the Trobriand Islands] a man is supposed to give presents to his wife in return for the sexual favours.'

Unfortunately, the Trobiand Islanders relaxed approach to sex and relationships has left them vulnerable to HIV and AIDS - a disease which is known to locals as 'the sickness without medicine' and has ravaged some communities.

But, says Lafforgue, even the malign presence of the disease isn't enough to persuade the islanders to give up their traditional way of life.

'Despite the fact that HIV and AIDS spreads quickly through the island population, premarital sex remains a part of the islanders’ idyllic lifestyle,' continues Lafforgue.

All villages are home to a special hut called a bukumatula which is set aside especially for unmarried teenagers and their lovers, although condoms and other types of contraceptive are nowhere to be found.

There is, however, one sort of person to whom the Trobriand Islanders' amorous behaviour doesn't apply. 'The romantic customs of the Trobriand Islanders do not extend to "outsiders",' explains Lafforgue. 'The locals are very proud people and they value their genetic lines.'

Discovered by the West in 1793, the islands were named after Denis de Trobriand, a lieutenant on the French ship, Espérance, but remained untouched until a Methodist missionary moved in in 1894. 

He was followed in the 1930s by a Catholic Mission but the islanders, although ruled by first the British and then the Australians, clung firm to their traditional ways.

Now part of Papua New Guinea, the Trobrianders continue to live much as they always have, using yams as currency and operating a matriarchal system that sees children become part of their mother's clan rather than the other way around.

They also settle scores and disputes by playing cricket, which was introduced by colonial authorities after they banned tribes from going to war with each other.

'A cricket game is always the occasion for mocking remarks and challenges between villages. It is played with much whistle blowing, singing and dancing,' explains Lafforgue.

'Girls also take part in these "battles" and dance topless, only wearing grass skirts and flowers. They also adopt very suggestive poses, which would  probably come as a shock to the authorities who introduced it. 

'Dances always take place after lengthy reconciliation ceremonies, with those taking part putting a mixture of coconut oil, mint and lemongrass on their bodies.' 

He adds: 'I was invited to join the circle of dancers who then took a sadistic pleasure in making fun of my hairy legs. I had no hope with the girls here because they don’t like white skin and hair — it's something they see as a sign of ugliness and scruffiness. The dim dim (the white man) is not their beauty ideal.'

By Ruth Styles - Dailymail