A Wedding, a Funeral, a Circus and Many Sheep
Valley Sacred, Peru 2009
In my Latin American work, Peru is becoming more and more important. Some of my best images are coming out of there. The Iquitos workshop has been a great addition, but returning for the 8th year in a row to the Sacred Valley around Cuzco proved to be very special indeed.
So many amazing opportunities came our way in a very magical manner. The wedding in a small farming community where everybody was dancing to the Blue Danube music was simply incredible. I’m glad that my three students, all women, managed to get some good, personal images of that and many other situations.
I loved spending time with the shepherds and their herds as they were slowly moving them to new pastures. Magical, simple moments that show the beauty of live.
Being back in the same small villages where I’ve been taking pictures for so many years it’s simply a great privilege. By looking at what I’ve done so far I understand the importance of returning to expand your vision of these places. I feel now that I need to see the Sacred Valley in other seasons to be able to show the different landscape and how the sowing and harvesting of crops create new possibilities.
The students’ images are very different from one another and yet they give a good sense of how each vision has slowly developed into some unique images. Willard continues to build up new, initmate, loving images on her animal series. Her fascination for rural life becomes more apparent in each new image. Paola’s eye gets more sophisticated and personal and each of her new images seem to reflect that.
Lucha inner qualities came forward and she’s slowly becoming aware of her potential as a photographer.
I’ll never forget the incredible empanadas we ate at Ernestina’s and the wonderful hearty soup at Jack’s.
I think this workshop is the one that I’d strongly recommend to a new student for its constant incredible opportunities.
EB
