Iquitos Surreal
Iquitos, Peru 2011
What else to say about this mysterious and magic place that I love deeply and always more. I’m so happy to have discovered Iquitos and to be able to return along with my students every year. Along with my four students we have continued the exploration of town and of all the surrounding villages, of life along the river, of the island populated by monkeys and other animals. Barbara, Maria, Pam and Paola have managed, each one in a different way, to tell their experience. Pam, who has a certain age, moved me deeply for her antelope’s agility and her profound and sacred joy de vivre. I believe we all have learned greatly from her. Barbara has taken a major jump forward, I’d define it extraordinary, that has pleasantly surprised me. I have encouraged to continue on this difficult but fascinating path and I believe that she is doing everything possible to dedicate her life fully to photography. Maria has managed to bring to surface her great sensibility in finding inspiration in apparently insignificant moments that hide a placid and quiet beauty. And Paola has continued to probe her photographic search managing to capture intimate moments full of poetry that will enrich her already existing very personal body of work. I feel the need to spend more time in Iquitos; I’d like to get lost on a boat navigating the awe-inspiring rivers; I feel that only by spending long periods of time around here I will be able, perhaps, to deepen my interior search. EB
