The Blessed Ones (CSI Cuzco) Gallery
Cuzco, Peru 2006
® Cris Mika
In ten days we experienced and photographed celebrations, a wedding,
an autopsy, a funeral, joy, laughter, sadness and despair. Thanks to Ernesto, we were given a glimpse of the real Peru We had lively discussions, ate, drank , enjoyed and generally bonded. What a wonderful photographic and life experience, what a wonderful group of people.
I have always felt an unease photographing people from another culture as though I was invading their personal space, taking from them without giving back. However, I learned, by watching Ernesto’s sensitive, friendly and honest interaction with the people, that this was not the case. He approached people with humanity and they wanted to share their special times with him and therefore with us. Although I learned many things from Ernesto and the group about how decisive that moment really is, it was this interaction between the photographer and the photographed that remains foremost in my mind. Christine Mika
® Judy Babinski
Such a beautiful people and such a beautiful land. Ernesto did his usual wonderful job of getting us into the most unique and amazing situations, both photographically and culturally, not only autopsies a la Cuzco CSI, but weddings and funerals. All that was missing was childbirth. Maybe next time. Thanks so much for a memorable experience. Judy Babinsky
® Marc Berry
The faces behind the multicolored masks stared back at us while the winds blew the open square. The festival had just finished and we were milling about. It was not just the air that was different, but also the energy of Peru. We could feel its presence all around us, and looked forward to what would be next. It seemed as if the group was blessed, with each day unfolding into another opportunity to shoot. With each review of photos, we could feel the special ness of Cusco and the Sacred Valley, one that only increased with each passing day. Marc Berry
® Randal Drain
The levity of “CSI: Cuzco” the name, the place, and the experience provides a fitting context in which the magic of Peru unfolds meaningfully, yet subtly. Peru is a surprising place that expectedly is home to pleasant people. Never have I encountered a more interesting manifestation of frankness, and mystery; sincerity and reservation; life, and death. Whether I was walking along side of a procession in Pisac or talking to a shop owner in Maras, Peru challenged me as a person and as an artist.
In one of art’s many paradoxes, we push ourselves as photographers to expand, bend, and reconstruct the limitations of what we can only see in order to elicit a more complete set of emotions and permanence in our work. Ernesto constantly reminded us: “You cannot hide from photography; the camera will always expose the photographer as much if not more than his subject.” He very clearly and firmly insists that photography push our expectation of ourselves as much as our images. Cameras are ironically most powerfully used for reflection; what we see through our lens is ourselves, sometimes familiar and sometimes jarringly profound.
As the group “ The Blessed Ones (CSI: Cuzco” shows, applying a mixture of discipline and exploration, allows us to harness the unknown and uncontrollable world around us. The profound and the familiar continued to merge throughout the elements in my work. Peru was unlike any place that I had been, but it stoked memories and feelings that were warm and often familiar. The photographic challenge during the workshop has been the refusal to acquiesce to what one is supposed to think, say and see. To meet the challenge is to mature, expanding oneself personally and artistically, as to give our world hope and our work meaning. I discovered my own expectations by embracing my thoughts, my emotions, and my instincts in the purest way possible…by accepting them without hesitation, without regard, with calm, with art. Randall Drain
® Sara Dominici
This journey represented a big change in my life, both as a photographer and as a person.
Before the workshop I was confused, struggling to make it as a photographer and losing sight of the main reasons why I’d chosen this path. I was missing the point, and I felt like sinking in hundreds of anxieties, while trying to please the photographic market.
Ernesto helped me to get back in touch with my dreams and my reasons for doing this, and to recover my serenity.
During my stay in Peru, I started smiling again. For ten days I woke up long before the alarm clock went off, and couldn’t wait to start the day. The workshop wasn’t only about photography. For most of all, it was about sharing life; and this is where I learned the most precious lessons.
Ernesto is an amazing teacher, probably because he is an amazing person.
Now I’m more aware of what made the difference: photography is my personal dialogue with the world. Only patience and time will make this conversation more meaningful. Sara Dominici
