16-MAY-2014
The White City, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The sun is barely breaking through the cloud cover over this hilly historic town high in the foothills of the Andes. I made this shot from the top of our hotel, shooting through a window with an iPhone camera. I use the tiled rooftops in the foreground to draw the eye into the image. These roofs fill half the frame and provide the interpretive content of the image. This is not a typical descriptive post-card view of Sucre. The flow of what seems to be randomly placed tiles speak of the passage of time itself – the wear and tear of nature, exposure to wind and rain, years of simply making do with what is there. The red roofs contrast to the pristine buildings of what is known as “The White City.” Such is the nature of Sucre, and indeed Bolivia itself.
08-MAY-2014
La Catedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The Spanish built this church between 1551 and 1712, adding this bell tower in the late 18th century. The clock, which still keeps perfect time, was built in London in 1772. The most incongruous features of the bell tower are three balconies decorated with statues of the Apostles. The statues are enormous, and seem to balance precariously on their narrow pedestals. I interpret the scene by abstracting it, removing the tower and its statues from the rest of the church by framing only the top two stories rising above the surrounding trees. The billowing clouds filling the background seem to put the scene into motion.
04-MAY-2014
Namesake, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Dominating the Plaza 25 de Mayo in the center of the old city is a statue of Mariscal Antonio Jose de Sucre, the Venezuelan-born hero of South America’s independence. He was Bolivia’s first president, and namesake of the city. Pigeons gather on the great general’s head, shoulders, arms and hand, creating a crown, epaulets and a perfect takeoff and landing spot. I converted this image to black and white, taking the statue back to its 19th century roots. I took many images of pigeons aloft and seated, and eventually was able to bring the scene to life by stopping one of them coming in for a landing.
04-MAY-2014
Family outing, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
To make this image, I first selected the setting itself – a rhythmically repeating row of sculpted trees growing before the ornate architectural features of a historic facade facing the city plaza. I caught this mobile family just as its motorbike passed below the overhead balcony and between the trees. As I shot, the child threw her head back towards her father’s chest. The fender and wheels of the vehicle, along with the cap and helmet of the parents, echo the curved shapes of the overhead trees. My interpretation comments on the relationship between the three “family” groupings here: botanical, architectural, and human.
05-MAY-2014
Mask, Museum of Anthropology and Folklore, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The highlight of this fascinating museum is a stunning collection of masks and headdresses showcasing Bolivia’s cultural diversity. I found this mask to be the most striking, and using my spot-metering mode, I was able to make it dramatically pop out of the dark background. The bizarrely elongated mask offers an incongruously dramatic contrast to the tiny bush held before it. Meanwhile, local context is provided by the traditionally designed shirt.
06-MAY-2014
Andean women, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Indigenous Bolivians are the country’s majority ethnic group, comprising 62 per cent of the population, belonging to 36 different subgroups. These indigenous women were selling produce in Sucre’s central market. The deep shadows cast by their broad brimmed hats abstract their faces, adding a mysterious mood to the image. I base my interpretation on juxtaposition – while they may sit side by side, I the image offers considerable contrast in attitude.
06-MAY-2014
Professional mourner, General Cemetery, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This woman mourns near a tomb at Sucre’s General Cemetery. She is one of the many “professional mourners” hired by others to move from tomb to tomb, honoring the memory of those who rest within them. I photographed this mourner by reflecting her in a tomb’s glass window. The reflection adds a spiritual suggestion to my interpretation. I intensify that suggestion by processing the image as a black and white abstraction.
06-MAY-2014
Life in the cemetery, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The atmosphere within this cemetery is so tranquil that many come here simply to study or read. Many of its tombs are stacked within niches set into massive glass-fronted stonewalls. I interpret the scene here as a home for both the living and the dead. The silence was overwhelming.
06-MAY-2014
Life cycle, General Cemetery, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Many of the tombs here are set among magnificent old trees. This monument is bathed in shadows cast by a canopy of leaves. I use the play of light and shadow to abstract the monument. I intend my interpretation to suggest the cycle of life itself as the shadows come and go with the passing of the day and the seasons.
08-MAY-2014
On parade, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This young flag twirler would soon be leading a parade of schoolchildren through Sucre, demanding better public education. Her colorful costume and makeup contrasts to the uncertainty I found in her expression. Even her grasp of the flag seems tentative – nervous energy, apprehension, doubt all contribute to my interpretation.
07-MAY-2014
Multi-tasking, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I was photographing a continual stream of shoppers moving between floors in Sucre’s central market eye – a parade of vivid colors in motion. When I viewed this particular image on my computer screen, I saw for the first time that the woman in the foreground is not only shopping – she is simultaneously nursing a baby. Meanwhile, the baby itself is lost amidst the lavishly colored bundling. I add context to the scene by including two additional shoppers moving up the steps behind her. To Bolivian eyes, the scene would appear routine. Bolivians are conditioned to seeing such colors, and nursing babies is common in public places. Because public nursing is not as common a practice in the US, my own interpretation of this multi-tasking subject is based on the incongruity of the scene.
07-MAY-2014
All in a days work, Central Market, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Another incongruous situation found in Sucre’s Central Market: a massive display of sportswear dominates the frame, while three incongruous mannequin torsos show off the goods at the right hand edge of the frame. My own interpretation of the scene is based on the somewhat bored reaction of the shopkeeper tucked into the upper left hand corner of the image. He seems to think this bizarre display is a simply business as usual.
09-MAY-2014
At heaven’s gate, Yotala, Bolivia, 2014
A religious shrine, a wrought iron gate, a huge satellite dish, and a grid of overhead electrical wiring, provide a metaphor for a contemporary version of Bolivian Pearly Gates. At least that’s how I intended to interpret this incongruous juxtaposition awaiting us as we entered the town of Yotala, about 20 miles from Sucre. By metering on the bright spot in the cloud, I am able to throw the image into silhouette. The only color left in it comes from the shards of blue sky visible behind the massive cloud. All of the incongruous elements are abstracted by the backlighting, allowing the viewer’s imagination to roam the image at will.
09-MAY-2014
Silent village, Yotala, Bolivia, 2014
I found myself virtually alone in the streets of this small town. Paved in ancient cobblestones, Yotala was truly a study in silence. And that is how I interpret it here – a scene featuring only a single soul crossing an intersection a block away. My telephoto lens collapses the scene, drawing near into far, and squeezing the sole pedestrian – when she finally appeared -- between the horizontal cobblestones and the continuation of the street that rises into a sheer hill only a block away. Other figures move or stand along this street within the surrounding shadows, yet the scene is virtually silent and empty, except for the woman walking through the intersection. Meanwhile, the morning light gilds the entire scene, etching it into memory.
09-MAY-2014
End of the road, Yotala, Bolivia, 2014
Yotala’s streets often end abruptly -- a village turns into a desert when the cobblestones run out. This street comes to such an end. A man stands brooding at the intersection of stone and sand. I used backlight to silhouette him, turning the figure into a symbol of loneliness, a person seemingly in search of some answers. I don’t know if he actually is lonely or not – it is simply my interpretation that makes him seem so lost and alone in this image.
10-MAY-2014
Going home, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Three people, framed not only in my camera, are also defined within a confining series of rectangles formed by the windows of a passing bus. The windows of the bus are streaked with grime, two of three passengers are abstracted through backlighting, and the image itself becomes more abstract because of my decision to convert it to black and white. Our focal point is the woman, who studies us with indifference. She finds my camera utterly irrelevant. The confining rectangles, the dirty bus window, and the abstractions within combine to bring a stark, gritty, yet memorable interpretation to what otherwise would just be a picture of some commuters on their way home.
10-MAY-2014
Churchyard, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
With many of my images, I have a certain interpretation in mind as I make them. However, with images such as this one, I am essentially offering my viewers food for thought. Everyone who sees this photo will bring his or her own interpretations to bear on it. Church services have just ended, and this group is waiting outside for someone. Only two members of this foursome are clearly defined – a man talks with the woman who turns her head towards him at left, while the woman in the foreground brings her hand to her head. Her expression is ambiguous – she may be tired. Perhaps she is wiping away a tear. Her eyes are tightly shut and her mouth is downcast. We are left to interpret the scene as we wish. This is one of those photographs that can ask more questions than it answers.
10-MAY-2014
Partners, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
People of all ages crowd the city’s historic Plaza 25 de Mayo on weekends. We can see them moving through the background of this image. However my focus is on a young couple that has created their own small island of relaxation in this place. I chose this moment to make this picture because neither of them is looking at each other, yet they are still very much together. The young woman uses the man’s lap as her pillow, while he cradles her head in his arms. They both seem utterly relaxed – smiles crease their faces. These partners are oblivious to my camera and to all who may see them here. My image expresses, in no uncertain terms, the care they share for each other.
10-MAY-2014
Car wash by hand, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
A group of enterprising boys regularly approach drivers parking their cars around Sucre’s Plaza 25 de Mayo, and promise them an inexpensive but thorough car wash upon their return. We noticed many takers. I photographed dozens of images of kids hurling water over these cars from plastic buckets, and this one produced the best combination of graceful water-pattern and determined facial response. This image speaks eloquently of the camera’s ability to stop time in mid flight, producing startling effects that the eye itself can never see, let alone remember.
10-MAY-2014
Benchwarmers, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Sucre’s historic central plaza draws dozens of bench-sitters, particularly on weekends. In this image, I found a group of older adults sitting at right angles to the group of softly focused teenagers in the background. Neither population acknowledges each other’s presence. There are considerable contrasts among the three elders as well. The gentleman in old fedora, dressed in a suit, sits calmly with his hands in his lap, while the man next to him delivers a lusty yawn. The man wearing the blue hat has just taken his seat, and is still adjusting to those slats. Meanwhile, the teenagers in the rear seem off in a world of their own. There are many ways to interpret a scene such as this. I chose to express a series of contrasts that speak to the great variety of people who use and enjoy this plaza.
11-MAY-2014
Primary colors, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Primary colors – reds, blues, and yellows – are prevalent throughout South America. I was able to put all of them to work for me in this image, which I made through a bus window as were traveling through the outskirts of Sucre on our way to the market town of Tarabuco. The traffic was heavy, and we stopped for about a minute, directly behind a parked yellow and blue bus. A red and yellow vintage Coca-Cola sign covers the wall next to it – promoting the soft drink as “the bottle of Bolivians.” To complete my image, I wished that a colorfully dressed pedestrian would walk between the bus and the sign. My wish was instantly granted when a young man appeared, wearing a red and blue warm-up suit. I made as many images as I could as he walked past me along a narrow sidewalk. I selected this image as my most effective interpretation of this scene. It makes use of all three primary colors in a very human way, expressing an important aspect of Bolivian culture.
11-MAY-2014
Lunching together, Tarabuco Market, Tarabuco, Bolivia, 2014
I usually prefer to photograph in the early morning or late afternoon, in order to take advantage of warmer, less harsh light. However on this day, rather than shooting by myself, I found myself visiting a well-known Sunday market in the town of Tarabuco as part of a group tour. Due to local protests, the main road to Tarabuco was impassible. It took our group more than two hours to get there, and by that time, the light was no longer ideal for photography. I had to look for ways to make the difficult light work for me, instead of against me. I found a family of three selling fabrics at the entryway to the market’s food court. It was lunchtime and they were nibbling on snacks as they waited for customers. They are shaded from the sun by the entry way and by large awnings that cover part of the street in front of them. Instead of roaming the sun-drenched streets, I work here with ambient, reflected light to interpret the scene, an image rich in color and symbolizing the human values of family, food, and work.
11-MAY-2014
Food court, Tarabuco Market, Tarabuco, Bolivia, 2014
I make use of harsh mid-day light as the subject of this image. A man eats alone in the virtually empty food court. He has come to buy or sell his wares, but now dines with only an array of primitive pushcarts as companions. I used the blue tablecloth and the blue awnings in the background to draw the eye through the image. The posts lining the arcade in the background echo the rhythmic repetition of the carts that move their way across the image. The brown clay floor reflects light back up on to his deeply shadowed face. My interpretation expresses the rough edge of daily life here by stressing the harsh light that is both endured and taken for granted here on Bolivia’s high plains.
11-MAY-2014
Burden of love, Tarabuco Market, Tarabuco, Bolivia, 2014
As I waited in the town’s central square for the rest of our group to assemble for its homeward journey, an indigenous Yampura woman bends forward in front of me in order to tie her baby to her back. She, too, is on her way home from the Sunday market, only her trip here was not about buying souvenirs or making photographs. Her people host this market, and for the Yampura, the market and all that comes with it, is a way of life itself. In making this image, I concentrated on her facial expression to create my interpretation. As she bends and strains to lash her child to her back, the light reflecting off the plaza concrete makes her face glow with a mother’s love.
12-MAY-2014
Mini-Eiffel Tower, Parque Simon Bolivar, Sucre, Bolivia
A popular feature in the center of this park is this miniature version of the Eiffel Tower. French engineer Gustav Eiffel designed both this replica, as well as the original tower in Paris. Eiffel shipped this little tower to Bolivia in 1908, where it was assembled by local engineers. For the first 16 years of its life, the tower functioned as a weather station. The tower was relocated to Sucre's Parque Simón Bolívar in 1925. Sucre’s Eiffel Tower now functions solely as a tourist attraction. It is possible to climb the two-story tall tower via an internal spiral staircase for a view over the park and city. My interpretation of Eiffel’s miniature tower is based on abstraction. I waited until a visitor climbed to the top and looked down. Shooting into the sun, which is hiding behind the swirling clouds overhead, I turn both tower and visitor into silhouettes, making them symbols of pleasure at the park. The turbulent movement within the clouds adds energy to the scene. To complete my interpretation, I abstract the image even more by converting it to black and white.
12-MAY-2014
Recycling, Park Simon Bolivar, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I usually use the spot-metering mode of my camera, primarily to emphasize the brightest area of an image, contrasting it to the darker surroundings. This image is a good example. By exposing this image on these green, yellow, and blue recycling bins, which help keep the lawns of Sucre’s magnificent Parque Simon Bolivar pristine, I underscore the importance of the cans and create an interpretation of this scene. If I had routinely used the standard multi-area metering mode, preferred by the great majority of photographers, to make this image, the abstracted people in the background would have been given equal emphasis, and the image would be more descriptive and less interpretive.
12-MAY-2014
At dusk, Plaza 25 de Mayo, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The sun has already set, yet the sky behind the clock tower of Sucre’s historic cathedral is alive with vivid color. The interpretive power of this image rests in the juxtaposition of its layers. The silhouetted trees create a frame within a frame, forcing the eye to move beyond them into the heart of the image. The palms on the right hand edge tell us that we are in a temperate place. The pair of 19th century lampposts diminishes in size, and echo the vertical thrust of the most important landmark in Sucre, the cathedral’s famous bell tower, along with the statues that cling to it. The background layer is filled with vivid purple and orange colors, as well as clouds that explode into the sky overhead. The crowning touch is the vertical cloud that seems to twist directly out of the tower itself. The entire image comes together as an interpretation of historic Sucre, symbolizing a place of great beauty that seems to live in another time.
21-MAY-2014
Educational dialogue, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Sucre has a modest population of only 225,000 people. Almost 15 per cent of them – more than 30,000 – take courses at its San Francisco Xavier University. Founded here in 1624, the university has campuses all over Sucre, virtually creating a city within a city. In this photograph, a student is engaged in a dialogue with a teacher just outside one of its walled campuses. The teacher listens as the student uses an emphatic hand gesture to drive home his point. I anchor the scene by filling my foreground with the woman wearing a red vest. It identifies her as a Sucre city employee. She seems to be thinking about joining the discussion across the street, yet her hand gesture indicates hesitance. This image interprets an aspect of education as viewed in a somewhat incongruous context. I make use of my vantage point behind the city employee to thrust my viewers into the mix, encouraging us to join the conversation as well.
13-MAY-2014
Bus Stop, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Two indigenous women converse just outside the wall of one of San Francisco Xavier University’s campuses. They are waiting for a bus. Their body language is expectant, and they wear the clothing and hats of their ethnic tradition. (Most of the indigenous population of Bolivia is either Quechua or Aymara.) They represent the historic roots of this nation, while the writing and drawing on the university’s wall behind them encapsulate a view of Bolivian university students towards nationhood. The words tell us “Freedom is not doing what you want…freedom is knowing what to do.” In this image I contrast Bolivian tradition with the future of Bolivian education.
13-MAY-2014
A wall speaks, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The wall surrounding one of San Francisco Xavier University’s campuses is covered with murals, most of which are political in nature. I use one of those murals as a background for this image of a student who reads as she walks to class. The mural conveys an emphatic symbol of the power of communication as an agent of change. A loud voice of the “common man,” symbolizing free speech, thunders towards top-hatted symbols of the “establishment.” This wall is speaking to all of us. Yet in my interpretive photograph, the woman walking with papers in her hand seems to hear or see none of it. She takes free speech for granted, and remains solely concerned with her own priorities and goals.
13-MAY-2014
Demonstration, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
A crowd of passionate parents marches on behalf of educational reform through the streets of Sucre. I photographed them as they paraded past the mural filled wall bordering one of San Francisco Xavier University’s campuses. This photograph offers considerable interpretive content. The flag, poster, even the murals on the wall are all extensions of political statements. The marchers are all women, except for the man who is shepherding them down the street. The image is filled with words, symbols, drawings, colors, and people expressing a range of attitudes and emotions.
13-MAY-2014
The test of time, San Francisco Xavier University, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
A sole student walks his way to class at one of the oldest universities in the Americas. This university itself dates back to the Spanish conquest, and this particular campus celebrated its centennial in 2009. To commemorate the event, students painted murals on the exterior walls bounding the campus. I made this image from a tiny park just across the street from the university. I included some of the park’s decorative wire fence in the foreground to echo the flow of murals across the way. The yellow flowers behind the fence echo the yellow in some of the murals. These murals went up five years ago, most likely before the lone figure walking past them was even a student. Great changes have come to this institution and to Bolivia since then, but he seems oblivious to them. My interpretation deals with the nature of time, and the test it applies to the institutions of man.
13-MAY-2014
Choices, San Antonio Market, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
When we capture an emotional response in a certain context, our viewers are given an opportunity to interpret the image for themselves. I made this photograph of a shopper in Sucre’s San Antonio Market. She wears a fedora hat, and cloaks herself in a vivid pink shawl. She is trying to make a decision about a purchase. She reveals her emotions at the moment by placing her hands on her hips and pursing her lips. When you look at this picture, you can identify with her quandary. We have all been there ourselves.
13-MAY-2014
Butcher, San Antonio Market, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Whenever we base a photo on human values, we are likely to create an interpretive image. I photographed this butcher at rest behind her stacks of red meat. (The red in her hat and in the meat seems to go together, and when we add the yellow bag and her blue sweater to the mix, we build this image around the three primary colors.) Meanwhile, she waits patiently for a customer – the market is quiet on this morning. Her body language and her expression convey a patient attitude. Patience is a human value – it is something we all wish we had more of at times. By photographing this patient butcher, I interpret an aspect of her job for my viewers. She seems highly experienced, as well. Her product is perishable -- if she fails to sell it within a certain amount of time, it will spoil. She or her employer would have to throw it out and lose money. Yet she reveals no sense of urgency here. She knows her business well, and seems to have the confidence to maintain her composure in the face of any anxiety.
15-MAY-2014
Environmental portrait, Central Market, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Environmental portraits are often quite interpretive. They do more than just portray the likeness of person. They can instead tell us who that person is, and what he or she does. When I am considering making an environmental portrait, I look first for any symbolic values in the setting that I can use to enrich the context (also called the “environment”) that we bring to our subject. While walking through Sucre’s Central Market, I came to an area featuring recycled woven fiber baskets piled from floor to ceiling. Various vendors had set up their fruit stalls in front of these baskets. Such baskets can symbolize the essence of a marketplace, and here they provide the entire background layer for this image. This fruit vendor is also completely surrounded by the things she sells. She wears the costume of a vendor. Her response is neutral, which is critical to my interpretation. If she was grinning at my camera (most portraits often feature smiling people posing for a picture) it would just be another picture of someone having her picture taken. Interpretive photography can offer much more than that. By remaining emotionally neutral, she is saying to us that the camera is symbolically invisible to her. Her body language remains pensive and anticipatory. She wears a plastic bag over one hand so she can safely dispense the fruit to her customers. She holds her head off to one side, as if to tell us that she may also be a bit on the tired side. She has a business to run here, and the amply filled environment tells us that it is a multi-faceted business. This interpretive environmental portrait was among the most expressive images I made in Bolivia. It takes the measure of not only the person, but also the task.
13-MAY-2014
Interpreting through perspective, San Antonio Market, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Many markets in Bolivia are essentially pedestrian-only streets lined with buildings. When the market opens, steel doors roll up to reveal the shops within, tables filled with items for sale are pulled out into the street, and other products are displayed on overhead racks. The sun can be merciless at ten thousand feet, so translucent tarps are hung as continuous awnings between the buildings. I noticed this shopkeeper sitting on a tiny bench in the street in front of her shop. I built my image around her as she turned her head and gazed towards a silhouetted shopper leading her child towards the street’s exit. The shopper wants to go one way, the child another. The interpretive power of this image is based on my use of perspective. By shooting this image from behind the shopkeeper, I allow my viewers to see the silhouetted shopper and her child as the shopkeeper must see her. I tell my story here by linking these dual subjects, caught in time within a glowing tunnel of light and color.
14-MAY-2014
Steam heat, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Boliva, 2014
At this factory, they make hats with the help of noisy and potentially hazardous machinery, reminding me of the factories of centuries past. I moved in on this old copper boiler, wreathed in steam, to stress both the nature of the material itself and its function – to provide heat and steam as needed to make hats. I combine indications of the age, function, and beauty of this boiler to interpret the nature of a very simple but necessary machine.
14-MAY-2014
Gathering Wool, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This woman spends her days sorting and packing wool that will eventually find its way into large felt hats sold throughout Bolivia and surrounding countries. Speaking to me through a translator, she described the weighty demands of her job. As she speaks, I used a wideangle lens to relate her to her surroundings. The colorful bags of wool in the background make her work almost seem festive. It is not. It is repetitive and tiring. She spoke haltingly, holding one hand to her throat as if she was trying to amplify her voice. My photographic interpretation of that job makes her seem quite vulnerable, alone in a sea of wool.
14-MAY-2014
Wool processing, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
By selecting a relatively slow shutter speed of one sixtieth of a second, I was able to blur the spin of these wheels to suggest the nature of speed as well as possible danger. My interpretation also expresses the timeless nature of such machinery – it is very likely that machines such as this were also used to good effect in past centuries. Here in Bolivia, they are still performing effectively.
14-MAY-2014
Machine operator, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This machine operator is processing wool. I include just enough of the machine and the wool to provide context for her task. This worker must stay awake and alert, even if fatigued. A mistake could lead to injury. Her hooded eyes, furrowed brow, and masked face communicate concern. She seems to pull away from the machine as she pushes her hands forward to grasp the wool and simultaneously turns her head. The cinderblock wall in the background adds a sense of confinement and pressure. This image speaks not only of a potentially dangerous job, but my interpretation also expresses the physical strength, concentration and determination required for this task.
14-MAY-2014
On break, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This woman is apparently catching a brief rest, but does not leave her machine to do so. I interpret the scene by stressing the pile of hats at her side, suggesting work that either has been done or has yet to be finished. She turns away from us, and rests on her arm, which in turn is anchored to her machine. She seems to be literally tied to this machine as long as she is working, or even not working.
14-MAY-2014
Confrontation, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This worker, his face guarded by a protective mask, wears the same kind of a hat that he makes. As I approached him, he stopped working for a moment and looked at me with a fixed stare. My tight, intimate confrontational framing intensifies this interpretation of a man and his job. The staring eyes and menacing mask lurking within the massive dark hat, complete the interpretation. This is a grim and gritty portrait of a worker who daily faces a challenging and dangerous task.
14-MAY-2014
The guardian, Sucre hat factory, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This woman checks everyone and everything going in and out of this factory. Her expression never changed as I made this interpretive environmental portrait of her. She is not posing for me. She stares at us intently, but remains impassive. Her arms stay crossed and close to her chest. A canvas cover drapes the doorway, backed by a gate of heavy wire. The drape echoes the curve of her arms. Her body language and expression tells us how she feels about her task and also says something about the nature of the job itself.
14-MAY-2014
El Presidente, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This heroic portrait of Bolivia’s 54-year-old president, Evo Morales, is one of several national icons portrayed in this block long mural. I waited until a policeman, speaking into a two-way radio, entered the frame, and made this image just as he reached a tree that divides the photo, along with the head of the president, in half. My interpretation is inspired by my perception of Bolivian history and politics. Morales is a divisive figure. Widely regarded as Bolivia’s first democratically elected president to come from its indigenous population, Morale’s eight years in office have focused on leftist policies, poverty reduction, and fighting the influence of the United States and international corporations in Bolivia. I see the tree slicing through the image, together with the role of the policeman talking into his radio, as symbolizing the reign of this colorful but controversial president. Morales is seen by some as a champion of indigenous rights, anti imperialism and environmentalism. He is condemned by many others for ruthlessly suppressing the growing desire for autonomy in Bolivia’s vast Amazonian regions. As I made this image, I also realized that three of its colors happen to be those of the Bolivian flag – red, yellow, and green. Morales himself springs from a field of blue. It is the color Bolivians associate with the “Movement for Socialism,” the political party founded and led by Evo Morales since 1998. Even the pair of automobiles randomly parked at each end of my frame harmonizes with this image – they are red and blue as well.
15-MAY-2014
Mutual respect, La Recoleta convent, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Dating back to 1600, the exterior of this beautiful church is repainted annually. The walls, like all walls in Sucre, are whitewashed. The statuary over the entrance is also repainted. I visited this church just as a painter applies his touch to this iconic sculpture. I interpret the interaction of figure and painter as a relationship of care and respect. Both figures are protected from the sun – the statue by a flowing white hood, and the painter by a floppy hat. The painter applies the brush very gently, and the statue seems to reciprocate with a benevolent gesture and smile.
(What makes this image particularly Bolivian is the painter’s customary mouthful of coca leaves. Coca is the cash crop of Bolivia. Its extract has been used in Coca-Cola products since 1885. When chewed, coca acts as a mild stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Less than one per cent of a coca leaf contains the psychoactive alkaloid drug, cocaine. This drug was completely eliminated from Coca-Cola products in 1929. Since the 1980s, the South American countries that grow coca have come under political and economic pressure from the United States to restrict the cultivation and export of the crop in order to reduce the supply of cocaine in international markets. Bolivia’s current president, Evo Morales, was originally a coca farmer, and ran its union. His government objects to these American economic pressures, and has broken off Bolivia’s diplomatic relations with the United States because of them.)
15-MAY-2014
Fashion show, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Sucre’s 25 de Mayo Plaza hosted a lavishly produced fashion show, featuring models from many South American countries. I am not interested in fashion photography itself, so my objective here was to interpret the nature of a fashion show from a spectator’s viewpoint. I chose a vantage point at the end of the runway, also known as the “catwalk.” It is here that each model stops to show off her costume, and then turns to begin the long walk back to the head of the runway. I was looking for a reaction from the model, as well as a response from the spectators gathered around the end of the runway. To interpret the scene, I contrast the matching deadpan responses of aloof model and the head of a spectator who stares blankly at her shoes, to the anonymous arm thrusting a small digital camera into the air. The theatrical light carries the model towards us out of a tunnel of blue light, which perfectly matches her blue cape. Meanwhile, the background adds a sense of place – all of this is happening in the middle of a city.
15-MAY-2014
One last pull, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This Bolivian TV cameraman, among the members of the media covering a fashion show on Sucre’s central plaza, is getting ready to shoot the show. But first he looks towards my own camera, while taking a last pull on his cigarette. In Bolivia, smoking at public events is still allowed, or at least tolerated. I found the scene to be incongruous, and interpret it accordingly. As a professional videographer, he does not expect to be photographed. His complex and expensive camera seems to wait patiently only inches away from his glowing cigarette. His eyes express his surprise at suddenly finding himself within the frame of another camera at such a moment. The image contrasts a personal instant of pleasure to his professional responsibilities. Meanwhile, his cigarette, camera, and tripod echo the thrusting branches of the softly focused tree in the background.
15-MAY-2014
Fashion show spectators, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Hundreds of spectators crowd the barriers surrounding the fashion show held at Sucre’s central plaza. I photographed a handful of them here, contrasting varying responses to the show. I take advantage of the theatrical lighting that is spilling over from the nearby runway to bring an otherworldly look to this image. The three people closest to my camera are the keys to my interpretation. Their arm and hand gestures all vary, as do their facial responses. They have come here from different countries and are watching the same thing at the same time, but in differing ways and in differing lighting.
16-MAY-2014
Prince of the Glorieta, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Wealthy banker and mining baron Don Francisco Argandona, along with his wife, Clotilde Urioste Velasco, dominated Sucre society in the late Nineteenth Century. The couple ran their own orphanage, and built Glorieta Castle, one of South America’s strangest palaces, just outside of Sucre. A statue saluting Don Francisco Argandona’s largesse stands today in front of the castle. The statue depicts him standing hand in hand with one of the many orphans he helped to support over the years. In my interpretation of that monument, I moved in and shot upwards, to meld the statue to the soaring castle rising behind it. For his efforts, Pope Leo XIII issued a papal bull in 1898, declaring Argandona and his wife “Prince and Princess of the Glorieta.” They became the only “royalty” Bolivia ever had, and they built the palace to suit their new status.
16-MAY-2014
Entry, Glorieta Castle, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Sucre’s Glorieta Castle is a spectacular architectural hodgepodge, a fusion of styles mixing Moorish with Chinese, Byzantine with Rococo, Romanesque with English Gothic. It’s entrance, for example, pairs striking stained glass windows with Moorish arches. I interpret this entrance here by photographing an indigenous Bolivian caretaker framed in glowing backlight within the castle’s front door. For more than 40 years, the castle was left to decay. Over the last quarter century, the site has been classed as a Bolivian national monument and its now empty rooms are open to visitors.
16-MAY-2014
Grand skylight, Glorieta Castle, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Using a 24mm wideangle focal length, I stretch my frame to include most of the spectacular skylight covering Glorieta Castle’s largest room. What makes this image interpretive, rather than merely descriptive, is my emphasis on the Arabic tower that rising more than 100 feet into the sky directly over the glass ceiling. It is truly incongruous to look up at a ceiling and find that it is entirely made of glass with a tower floating within it. The sun-splashed rear wall catches the eye and draws it upwards towards the tower.
17-MAY-2014
City of hills, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The entire city of Sucre clings to steep hills that are truly breathtaking, in every sense of that word. I photographed this shopper, bearing bags in each hand, just as she reached the crest of the hill I had chosen for my vantage point. I watched as she slowly climbed towards us, and I interpret the length of her journey by the rhythms of the gradually rising windows she passes on her way upwards. I counted ten windows just in this frame – she has left five times that number behind her, and is none the worse for wear, even at Sucre’s 9000-foot altitude.
17-MAY-2014
Double dozing, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The striking incongruity of two well-dressed men sound asleep within the same well-kept doorway makes this image memorable. This is one of those images that place the burden of meaning upon the viewer. It is an interpretive image because it leaves us to wonder about the circumstances leading to this double-doze. Are they napping while waiting to meet somebody here? Are they locked out the house? I never found out. I shot. They slept. And I left.
17-MAY-2014
Two halves, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
If we look at this image purely from a descriptive standpoint, it is simply shows us a typical Bolivian street corner scene. An indigenous woman, wearing an ethnic costume, looks to the left as she carries a heavy but brilliantly colored burden on her back. A mother and her son, who carries a light, black backpack, face right as they wait for a bus. This image, when examined from an interpretive standpoint, goes well beyond description, contrasting the two sides of Bolivia. The left hand side of the image defines the indigenous majority, people heavily influenced by tradition. Symbolically, they have been carrying heavy burdens for centuries. Meanwhile the right hand side of the image shows us Bolivians who have left tradition behind them, people who wear sporting gear and carry backpacks filled with schoolbooks. The opposing halves of Bolivian society may cross paths on this street corner, yet neither acknowledges the other.
05-MAY-2014
Faith and nature, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This cloudscape, in itself, is a magnificent symbol of nature’s power. In this image, the clouds spiral upwards over the rooftops and religious symbols of man. Nature takes top billing here. However, a small halo effect appears around the small cross, and that is where my interpretation begins. The little halo, symbolizing faith, must struggle to match the scale of the storm clouds that rise into the heavens behind it. This picture also makes an appropriate introduction to the series of nine images that follow – all dealing with matters of faith amidst the turbulence of a rapidly changing country.
03-MAY-2014
Eight candles, Santa Cruz Cathedral, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 2014
I made this interpretive image during the few hours we spent in this western Bolivian city the day before we flew into Sucre. The young man lighting a candle in the Santa Cruz Cathedral follows a practice going back to ancient times. Early Christians first burned candles at tombs within the catacombs of Rome, using prayer as a sign of solidarity between the living and the dead. Today, people of many faiths also light candles to affirm the power of goodness over the darkness of evil. Eight candles flicker within this image. The tallest one belongs to the young man. The others symbolize the faith of others who have come this way that evening. The young man’s hand is slightly blurred as he withdraws it. His expression, clothed in darkness, is solemn and focused. His belief is palpable. The flame of his candle glows squarely over his heart.
12-MAY-2014
Our Lady of Lourdes, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
In 1858, a fourteen-year-old girl reported seeing apparitions of a “small young lady” standing in a niche in a grotto near Lourdes, France. Eventually religious authorities confirmed the apparition as the Virgin Mary, and Lourdes became a shrine where worshippers now pray for healing miracles. Churches were built on the spot and Lourdes became a destination for millions of pilgrims. (Within France, only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes.) The girl who saw the apparition was canonized as a saint in 1933, and statues of “Our Lady of Lourdes” appear in other grottos around the world. I photographed this one in Sucre, and converted it to black and white. By doing so, I abstract the image to make it less literal and more timeless and symbolic. The figure appears more like a person in black and white, and less like the colorfully painted stone statue that it really is.
18-MAY-2014
Procession, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The Archbishop of Sucre entered the cathedral to celebrate a mass in a procession that passed below a graphic painting of a crucifixion. The painting and its ornate frame seem to radiate suffering as the religious officials bow while passing below it. I shot the scene from behind the procession to interpret the bowing heads as abstract symbols of humility, and also to match the light glowing on the capes of the celebrants to the glow of the figure in the painting.. Religious processions are a form of theatre, and by under exposing the image, the scene becomes darker and quite dramatic. The light source next to the painting animates the figure in the painting, making this image even more symbolic and interpretive than it otherwise would be.
18-MAY-2014
Archbishop, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I made this portrait of Sucre’s Archbishop Juarez Parraga from a distance, using a 345mm telephoto focal length. I then cropped the image to intensify the emotions within it, creating an interpretation that speaks of both solemnity and thought. The archbishop was presiding over a Sunday mass in Sucre’s cathedral. At the moment, he is symbolically expressing concentration by pressing two fingers to his face. The archbishop’s altar servers stand behind him. One of them appears here as only a shoulder, while the other, his face a mask of solemnity, bears the Archbishop’s staff, called a “crosier.” A softly focused cross in the distance repeats the vertical thrusts of both the crosier and the Archbishop’s miter, while adding religious context.
18-MAY-2014
Authority, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This interpretive image, which I made during a mass in Sucre’s cathedral, features an impassive teacher. He holds a newspaper in his hands and momentarily closes his eyes. He is the symbolic shepherd, while the high school students represent his flock. His students may wear school uniforms, but are anything but uniform in their response to the moment. The boy in the center seems quite serious, two other boys may be following the service from a folded paper, while a few in the background seem to tune out. The teacher governs by ear, not by sight. He knows his class, and they know him. It is significant that the teacher stands off to the side, a symbol of his authority.
18-MAY-2014
Emotions, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Emotional interaction usually leads to interpretive imagery. Such is the case here. This young couple is obviously moved by the religious rituals involved in this mass. The woman seems on the point of tears. She moves as close as she can to the young man, yet averts her eyes. The man seems lost in his own emotional response. He bows his head, supporting it with his hand. He is wearing powerfully decorative athletic clothing, its colors competing with the quiet emotion of the moment. As such, I converted this image to black and white, abstracting the scene to stress its powerful feelings rather than the bold design of the clothing.
18-MAY-2014
Restless, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I found this child incongruously nestled among an array of praying legs and feet in the last row of the cathedral during a Sunday mass. The four worshippers surrounding her on bended knees are most likely members of her extended family. She takes comfort in their presence, yet turns away at this moment to look at her surroundings. She does not disturb anyone as she sits quietly, her hands pressed together at her knees. The meaning of the moment eludes her – she is a child, and most children of her age naturally become restless after spending more than a half hour sitting in one place. I take advantage of this situation to interpret the scene, abstracting most of it through close framing. In doing so I tell the story of a child who deals with her restlessness in her own rather polite way. Meanwhile, the pairs of bent legs and black shoes arrayed on either side pay her no heed. Her own knees, clad in shocking pink and facing the opposite way, as well as the innocent expression on her face, tell the story here.
15-MAY-2014
After the mass, Sucre Cathedral, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
A house of worship can be used communally to express religious faith en masse. It also offers individuals a sanctuary for prayer or simply a place, surrounded by history and art, to sit quietly and think or meditate. For more than 400 years, this particular cathedral has been used in both ways. In this interpretive image, a woman sits alone in the cathedral, caught in the grasp of the sunrays pouring in through an unseen window directly above her. She represents a community of one. There are no choirs or priests or worshippers present. A work of religious art is bathed in the golden rays of light as well. Yet the woman looks straight ahead. She is absorbing the nature of the place itself, and is left to her own thoughts. Some may interpret the streaming rays of the sun as a spiritual or divine symbol. (Some photographers even refer to them as “God’s Rays.”) My interpretation, however, is quite different. To me, the streaming rays of light represent the presence of nature, while the cathedral and its religious art is the creative work of man. I see this person sitting in the presence of that art, and within those rays. She is free to interpret, use, and enjoy her surroundings as she wishes.
17-MAY-2014
Rhythms of the street, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Both the figures on the sidewalk and the cars on this street become smaller as they recede into the distance. They move apace, rhythmically repeating each other as they climb the hill leading towards the Merced Church’s landmark bell tower. Even the three bells diminish in size as we view them within their arched belfries. A figure riding a motorcycle, stopped in time as it weaves through traffic and roars up the hill, offers a touch of incongruity by linking the cars with the pedestrians – it combines characteristics of both. As a final interpretive touch, I converted the image from color to a vintage sepia, aging the scene and making it seem timeless.
22-MAY-2014
Fighting city hall, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
During our three weeks in Bolivia, we saw numerous protest demonstrations. Rural residents blocked highways and backed up traffic. Parents marched, demanding better schools for their children. And here, local officials are confronted by a crowd of local media on the very steps of city hall. Protestors bear signs saying “Freedom does not support intransigence,” pleading with those in power to come to some kind of an agreement. This image presents an interpretation of the scene by offering a view of several conflicting activities taking place at one time. In the lower right hand corner of the image, a reporter interviews a local politician. In the very center of the image, another politician (wearing a brown suit) nervously scans the crowd. In a few minutes, he will work his way to the front to speak to the crowd. Meanwhile, the current speaker stands in the entrance to city hall, obscured by posters and outstretched arms holding cameras.
22-MAY-2014
Zebra at work, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Many Bolivian cities now use people incongruously dressed as zebras to help pedestrians get across busy streets. The costumed zebras easily catch the attention of motorists with their exaggerated gestures, and capture the imagination of pedestrians as well. Zebra stripes even match the striped patterns of crosswalks. I caught this zebra signaling a pair of waiting, and matching, white cars to proceed on their journey. The dual grilles of the cars even show up as black stripes, mimicking the stripes of the zebra and crosswalk. These matching colors and patterns bring coherence to the image and helps makes it interpretive.
19-MAY-2014
City sweepers, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Residents of Sucre take great pride in the cleanliness of their historic city. Everywhere I photographed, there were city employees working in crews such as these to remove litter and debris, as well as tidying exposed earth, as they do in this image. I make this photograph interpretive by exposing with my spot-metering mode on the bright background, abstracting the crew working in the shadows and making them appear almost as costumed actors in a theatrical setting. Two of them wait their turn at right as their partners work here. I retain a trace of their distinctive red city uniforms in the shadows, binding them together into one cohesive unit.
09-MAY-2014
Rock pile duty, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I found this red-clad city worker filling a wheelbarrow with rocks, over and over again. It is repetitive hard labor. I express this interpretively by moving my camera position to the other side of the rock pile, filling the entire lower half of the frame with an undulating flow of rocks. By contrasting her small figure to the vast amount of rock, I imply just how much hard work may still remain. Her bright red uniform contrasts sharply to the dull gray-brown rocks, calling our attention to her labors. The woman carrying a green plastic bag walks through the background brings a different level of effort and another kind of task to the image. She never looked at the woman shoveling rocks as she passes her.
21-MAY-2014
Maintenance, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Sucre is an architectural jewel, featuring splendid mansions, churches, monasteries and homes dating back as far as the 1600s. Its historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is currently protected by strict city building codes. Most of it is preserved as it looked a century ago. Every building within the historic district must be whitewashed once a year, maintaining its reputation as the “White City of the Americas.” A gaping hole in one of those whitewashed walls offers us this view of Sucre’s mandatory maintenance at work. My interpretation makes the worker laboring within the hole almost a part of it. His curved shoulders echo the curving lines in the whitewashed walls surrounding the hole. He stands precariously upon a plank and sawhorse, no doubt the same kind of equipment originally used to construct this building well over 100 years ago. I render the image in vintage black and white, suggesting that the labors of the past continue to repeat themselves in the present.
19-MAY-2014
Truck driver, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The bold design of this red and black truck echoes the design and color of the clothing of its driver. I watched him park the truck and swiftly enter this building. I sensed he would emerge shortly, and when he did, I made this interpretive image of the man and his machine, linked as partners through design, color, and the structure of the image itself. The shadow of the truck connects the driver with his truck by embracing them both. A row of white tiles on either side of the doorway also connects the building to the truck. The contrast in scale between the size of the driver and his massive truck adds a powerful interpretive touch to the image as well.
19-MAY-2014
Little shop of wonders, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I made this image along an industrial street featuring small shops specializing in repairing and servicing cars and trucks. This shop attracts its customers with hand made signage. It is roofed with rusting segments of tin and broken tiles, bearing traces of exterior painting long forgotten. This shop sells, or perhaps formerly sold, lubricants. I call this image the “little shop of wonders” because it makes us wonder about everything we see here. It engages the imagination, and thereby becomes interpretive. An indigenous woman plods past the shop, a heavy walking stick and two dogs preceding her. An ornate metal grill, symbolizing a rising sun, guards a window holding empty bags and cartons. More empty cartons rest upon the vividly colored oil drums blocking the entrance to the building. The place seems to be closed. The handmade sign hanging next to the door is just as baffling – it defies translation. The woman and the dogs kept on walking after I made this picture. She was searching the area for useful scrap. The dogs watched her, every step of the way.
19-MAY-2014
Refreshment stand, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Once again, I use the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, to draw the eye and stimulate an emotional response to this image. I use both a sense of time and place to make this interpretation an expressive one. The scene itself reminded me of the colorful yet melancholy subjects favored by the painter Edward Hopper. The interplay of light and shadow is expressive. It creates the structure of this image, and allows me to freeze the dog in its tracks as it moves towards the shopkeeper who sits in the shade. I define the dog with the sun, yet its nose is less than an inch away from the cooling shadow that embraces the shopkeeper, and slices through a painted beer advertisement on the building wall. The dog’s profile creates a sense of tension as it moves through the image. The shopkeeper pays no attention to the dog, the shadow play, or the advertisement. At the rear of her shop, a lone window frames a glowing scene of broken tile and a landscape telling us how close this shop is to the edge of town. The shopkeeper patiently and silently waits for a customer, but on this morning she had few takers.
20-MAY-2014
Technology vs. manpower, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
While photographing the activity at massive construction project on the outskirts of Sucre, I noticed dozens of workers laboring by hand, while only a few workers were using contemporary machinery to ease the burden and increase efficiency. To photographically interpret this situation, I isolate a lone construction worker bending his knees and back to accomplish a task. I contrast him here to the massive power shovel lifting tons of rock just behind him. The bending figure echoes the rhythms of the curves and angles of the machinery looming just behind him. I lead the eye into the frame from the lower left hand corner. A circle of stone provides a base for the figure of the man, and points to a small cone of dirt echoing the triangular shape of the power shovel. I also compare the posture of the bending worker to the posture of the silhouetted worker seated in the relatively comfortable cabin of the huge machine. This resulting image symbolizes how emerging nations, such as Bolivia, must weigh the benefits of expensive technology against what often proves to be the cheaper cost of manpower. In many situations, cheap and abundant manual labor can produce higher profits than investments in expensive machinery.
20-MAY-2014
Waiting for transport, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Hundreds of indigenous workers, most of them Quechas, gather daily on the outskirts of Sucre to board large trucks that will take them to the distant town of Ravelo where they will labor in the fields, or buy and sell agricultural products. This truck terminal provided fertile ground for portraiture. This woman was waiting for her bus to load while sitting in an aluminum shed, eating an orange. The sun was already quite harsh, but she was sitting in the shade, glowing in the light reflecting off an aluminum panel. I often try to work with reflected light – it is warm, soft, and renders detail beautifully. An interpretive portrait can communicate character and personality. In this case, I portray a woman who has seen much of life, yet still can summon the strength to daily earn her living. The hat and poncho speak of her Quecha roots. Her hands expressively grasp the last slice of orange as if it were a treasure. I used a 345mm telephoto focal length to make this image. She never saw me, and remained completely relaxed.
20-MAY-2014
Bound for Ravelo, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Three members of a Quecha family await the departure of their truck for Ravelo, where they will be loading the baskets now piled on the floor behind them with supplies and foodstuffs. I interpret the scene by framing a mother with two children standing just within the door of that truck. The children snack on treats, while the mother nervously peers out at the chaotic terminal from the relative quiet of the truck. This image is rich in interpretive detail – the anxiety of the mother is evident, contrasting to the anticipation of her children. One other interpretive cultural comment can be drawn from this image – these trucks are driven constantly, yet the board walls inside of them, while showing some water stains, are absolutely clean. If this truck had seen duty in the US, its boards would have been covered in graffiti.
20-MAY-2014
Stoic, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
The stoic stance of this Quecha elder awaiting transport from Sucre to Ravelo helps me create a portrait that is indicative of character. Clothed in a traditional black hat and blue poncho, my subject benefits from the reflective light bouncing off the walls of the aluminum shed. A lighter blue tarp hanging in the background adds a frame of vibrant primary color. The profile is ambiguous – gender itself is not stressed here. This could either be a very strong man or woman, a person who has seen much, and learned the lessons of time itself.
20-MAY-2014
A face in the crowd, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Some of the trucks loading at this terminal were filled to capacity, but latecomers were still arriving. The resulting crowding made some of the trucks look and feel like cattle transports. In this image, I interpret that crowding by making the viewer actually feel the pressures of the moment. I focused on the man in the background, his face brilliantly illuminated by the harsh mid-day sun. He is seated with his back against the board wall, awash in a sea of hats. Everyone in this image is anonymous, except for him. He bears this pressure with passive strength and wears his Quecha sash with pride. He has most likely endured such crowding at Sucre’s Ravelo terminal before, and he probably will again.
20-MAY-2014
Anxiety, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
In this emotional interpretive image, I tell the story of age, vulnerability, and anxiety. This elderly man was the last to board a truck bound for Ravelo. He did not have enough strength to push himself fully into the truck. Here, he stands in its entrance, hanging on to its steel door with one hand, and nervously rubs his taut face with the other. He wonders what will happen when the door closes. Will he find a place to stand? Or will he be ordered off the truck? I continued to photograph him as he waited. Eventually the driver shoved him back into the truck, the door slammed shut, and it drove off into the dust. We are left with this memory of him, his vulnerability and anxiety clearly expressed by his face and his hands.
19-MAY-2014
National colors, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I was drawn to this setting by its colors. The Bolivian flag is red, yellow, and green, echoing the coloration of this building and its huge bags of soy piled inside. The future identity of any country rests upon its children, and Bolivia is no exception. This toddler briefly escaped from the grasp of his mother, and I framed him as he symbolically wanders alone amidst pale versions of the colors of his nation. He was angry, and instinctively tries to strike out on his own at this moment. My interpretation blends color, emotion and scale to symbolize both a nation and its children in search of an identity.
19-MAY-2014
Past, present, and future, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Bolivia is often identified in the public mind as a “colorful” country because of the vivid costumes worn by the ethnic groups representing its culture. Photographs of people wearing such costumes sometimes call our attention first to the colors themselves, diluting the potential presence of the people within them. That is what originally happened here. The colors of this mother’s poncho were so vivid that they overwhelmed her calmly determined attitude. The striking white reflections dancing across on the gray wall behind them were competing with the color, as well. After converting this image from color to black and white, the mother comes to our attention first. She now strongly represents the present moment, instead of the past traditions of her people. Meanwhile, the young girl who walks beside her, as well as an infant wrapped within the poncho, are equally important. They represent the future. The stripes on the mother’s costume are now relegated to the past, while the mysterious reflections on the wall (caused by light bouncing off windows on the opposite side of the street) become far more symbolic as well. They seem to dimly recall the past, while at the same time implying the future. The focal point of the image now rests in the mother’s profile – eyes closed, head bent forward as she climbs a long hill to the school with two children in tow. This image underscores the potential importance of black and white abstraction in shaping our interpretation of photographs.
21-MAY-2014
Schoolgirls, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
These children were sharing what appears to be an engrossing book on the sidewalk just outside of their school. They were on a break, and one of them is simultaneously enjoying a treat as well. A third child’s hand, bearing a drink, breaks through the frame at left. The children knew I was photographing them, but they were so absorbed in the book that they essentially remained oblivious to my presence. My interpretation is based on creating a sense of intimacy. By moving in with a telephoto zoom, I take the viewer into their confidence as well. All of us become engaged. We want to learn more about what they are studying here. The image engages our imagination and makes us partners in a process.
19-MAY-2014
On the march, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I was having dinner in the center of Sucre when I hard a marching band playing the rousing American Civil War song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” To hear such music in the heart of historic Bolivia was remarkable in itself. I quickly left the restaurant, and found the street just outside of it filled with marching schoolboys as far as the eye could see. I did not take my prime camera to dinner with me, but I always carry a backup camera in an iPhone strapped to my belt. I quickly learned that the tiny lens on the iPhone was quite not up to stopping the nighttime movement of the marching mob of kids filling my screen. On the other hand, the iPhone camera's optical disadvantages encouraged me to make use of blurred motion to interpret the scene to tell the story. The iPhone camera shot this night scene at the slow shutter speed of one fifteenth of a second, causing most of the moving schoolboys to appear blurred. Yet some of them stopped moving at the moment I tripped the shutter, and thereby appear a bit sharper than the others.The interplay between clear and unclear subjects gives this image its interpretive power – a throbbing sense of movement. (I never did find out why they were marching through the city’s narrow streets. Nor did I ever learn why they chose to march to the beat of a song written in another country, about a war they most certainly know little or nothing about.)
21-MAY-2014
In touch, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Cell phones and the Internet have become a necessity for many Bolivians, and are quickly reshaping its culture in the process. This image is all about that change. This young man peeks from his hood at his phone, just before jumping onto his motorbike and riding off in a cloud of smoke. I photographed the scene in layers to build my interpretation. The silhouette of the motorbike anchors the foreground of this image, changing from black to bright red as it rises from shadow into sunlight. The curve of the bike echoes the curve of the man’s shoulders. He dominates the image from the middle layer, his thumb poised to strike home. A whitewashed wall, bearing the shadow of the ornamental tree at right, completes the image with a background layer.
21-MAY-2014
Also in touch, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This image pairs perfectly with the preceding scene. It offers contrasting ethnicity, age, gender, and color to my previous image of a young man checking his cell phone. Instead of standing in the harsh light of day, this indigenous woman patiently waits within the shade of a historic convent’s entryway. She also studies the screen of a cell phone she holds within her fingers. I use the beauty of reflected light and color to enhance my interpretation of this scene – she stands before a gleaming metallic wall, reflecting the purplish color of the tiled floor, as well as the golden hues of the courtyard tiles beyond. Reflected sidelight outlines her legs, hands, phone, and profile in glowing color. Her blue striped apron adds a touch of striking primary color to the image. Meanwhile, her expression symbolizes a patient response to what she sees on the yellow phone cradled within her hands.
21-MAY-2014
Dancers in motion, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
This image merges the furious energy of Bolivian folk dancing with its elegant grace and ethnic traditions. I selected my camera’s shutter priority mode, and chose to make this image at one eighth of a second. While the shutter was open, the dancers are depicted in various degrees of blur. The dancers who are moving very fast are suggested here only as ghostly abstractions. The dancers moving more slowly at this instant are still blurred, but are defined enough to convey their gender, costume, and dancing form. Deliberately blurring a moving subject is an interpretive choice. In this case, what normally would have been just a picture of dancers instead becomes an image of whirling beauty that happens to have dancers in it.
21-MAY-2014
Suspended in time, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
Some of the same dancers appearing as blurred figures in the previous image are frozen in time here. What makes this image so special is its incongruity. I do more than just freeze these dancers in time by using a relatively faster shutter speed of one one-hundredth of a second. I timed my shutter release so that all seven dancers are suspended not only in time, but also are simultaneously left hanging in the air. Not a single foot touches the stage here. Incongruity can be a powerful interpretive tool, and I use it to maximum effect in this image.
21-MAY-2014
Energy on display, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I photographed these Bolivian folk dancers on stage for more than two hours. I blurred them, I froze them, and in this case, I capture an instant of suspended energy that expresses the nature of the dance itself. Four dancers threw themselves into the air in front of me, extending their arms and legs as if they are riding horses at a full gallop. The costumes, as well as the streamers that flow from their hands, contribute to this energy. I interpret the nature of this dance by taking advantage of the shadows to abstract much of the hip and leg action. This abstraction contrasts to the defined costumes and facial expressions of the dancers. Even the frame plays a role in the abstraction. The upraised arm of the man in the green shirt breaks through the top of the frame, and suggests that he is reaching for the edge of the picture itself to pull himself and the others skyward.
17-MAY-2014
Last light, Sucre, Bolivia, 2014
I made this image from the same vantage point that I used for the opening photograph of this gallery. That image was made just after sunrise, under a blanket of broken clouds. This image, made from the same window with the same iPhone camera, was shot just after sunset. Its interpretive value comes from light and color. The aging roofs that made my sunrise image work so well are still there, but their rough textures are now abstracted by shadows. The “White City” becomes a city of red, gold, and brown. The setting sun colors the swirling clouds overhead yellow and pink. This image is the last Sucre photograph in this gallery. It provides a perfect bookend to the opening photograph.
23-MAY-2014
The Altiplano, en route to Potosi, Bolivia, 2013
The Altiplano, (Spanish for “high plain”), is the most extensive area of high plateau on earth, outside of Tibet. It is a desolate, wind-swept, rock-strewn landscape, set amidst barren mountains. I made this image at an altitude of almost 13,000 feet. I anchor this landscape photograph by filling nearly the entire bottom half of the frame with rocks. They point to a distant valley, which rises towards a range of snow-spattered mountain peaks. I wanted to interpret this scene as a cold, high, threatening place (its altitude alone is enough to produce illness). Yet the green valley and the blue sky that peeked through the cloud cover were quite pleasing to the eye, diminishing the forbidding interpretation I wanted to create. When I converted this image to black and white, everything changed. The peaceful colors were replaced with grays, whites and blacks that emphasized the jagged field of rocks in the foreground and the mountains in the background. The monochrome valley becomes merely a transitional zone, not a destination in itself. The clouds in the sky suggest the threat of a storm. By including a slice of the highway in the lower right hand corner of the image, I contrast the work of nature to the presence of man, even here on this Altiplano, one of the most remote places on earth.
23-MAY-2014
City of silver and the dead, Potosi, Bolivia, 2014
Potosi is only fifty miles southwest of Sucre, but it took us a half-day to get there. It is a drive of twists and turns, over mountain passes, and across the vast barren Altiplano, to get to the highest city in the world. It was once the richest city on earth as well. Founded by the Spanish in 1545 as a mining town, Potosi produced most of the silver for the Spain’s New World Empire. It became the largest city in the Americas, with a population exceeding 200,000 people. More than 50,000 tons of silver came out of the mines surrounding the city, extracted by the 60,000 Andean Indians and 30,000 African slaves who were forced to work in them.
Over 300 years of mining, millions of miners have perished in Potosi from lung disease, cave-ins, and explosions. This tragic city of silver and death still stands, but its wealth has vanished and its importance is gone as well. Many of its mines are now sealed, yet a few are still barely active. They now produce tin instead of silver, and today’s miners, some as young as 13, face similar dangers. They will eventually perish long before their time. After having lunch in Potosi, we drove out of town through a series of rainsqualls, which helped me to interpret this grim place. We passed below this rocky hill with a memorial cross on its summit. All of Potosi’s hills hold warrens of played out mines. A small patch of blue sky, surrounded by storm clouds, incongruously clings to what otherwise would be a black and white image. This interpretation, more than any other I made in Potosi, best symbolized how I felt about the place.
23-MAY-2014
School bus, en route to Uyuni, Bolivia, 2014
In this part of Bolivia, children get to school in crowded trucks. The vivid colors of the clothing and the truck itself contrast to the pale colors of the bleak landscape that characterizes the Bolivian Altiplano. The presence of a new sidewalk in what appears to be an undeveloped area is also incongruous. This truck had stopped for a rest break, which tells us that the distances these children must travel are significant. It leaves a trail of exhaust behind it as it rumbles away. At least a dozen children are left behind – another truck will pick them up and take them to another destination. The interpretive strength of this image rests in its depiction of the unfamiliar world that is the Bolivian Altiplano. These children go back and forth to school in trucks traveling long distances at a 13,000 feet altitude. They are used to it. For them, such journeys are a fact of life. That is how my image interprets it as well.
23-MAY-2014
On the Great Salar, Uyuni, Bolivia, 2014
The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, over 4,000 square miles in size. Sitting at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, this amazing place is actually an extension of the Bolivian Altiplano, the floor of a vast prehistoric lake. It is one of Bolivia’s few major tourist attractions, drawing visitors from all over the world. Many of them stay in hotels made almost entirely of salt. I stayed in one of them, and made this image through one of its viewing areas. I interpret this vast salt flat by using scale incongruity to stress its size. I compare the salt flat itself to the size of a distant mountain, which is actually in Chile, as well as to a yellow tourist bus, which is dwarfed by the landscape. By shooting just after sunset, I was able to emphasize the colors of the sky and clouds, comparing their beauty to the dull gray color of the salt flat itself, and the brownish salt marsh at its margins.
25-MAY-2014
Turning life into art, Uyuni, Bolivia, 2014
Uyuni is a desolate gateway for tourists visiting the world’s largest salt flats. It has only 10,000 hardy inhabitants, yet hosts 60,000 visitors a year from around the world, mostly transient backpackers. This woman was waiting for a bus and trying to entertain her restless child. At one point, she took the child into her arms and began to twirl her around. I noticed that the flying legs of the child echoed the rhythms of the flying pigtail of the cartoon figure in the poster across the street. By exposing for the signage across the street, I turn the mother and her child into abstract silhouetted figures. My image, which attempts to turn life into art (as well as art into life), offers an interpretation of motherhood in this isolated Bolivian city.
25-MAY-2014
Eating dust, en route to La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
We were supposed to fly from Uyuni to La Paz, but in this part of the world, air traffic is often subject to cancellation. A windstorm took down a power line, and the Uyuni airport shut down, requiring us to take a ten hour drive on unpaved mountain roads in order to get to La Paz, the capitol city of Bolivia, and the final stop on our journey. Our bone-jolting ride took us through the foothills of the Andes, giving us clouds of dust as our constant companion. I used that dust to my advantage in this interpretive sunset image made through the dirty windshield of our vehicle. A vehicle comes towards us, leaving a golden curtain of dust in its wake. I shoot into the sun to backlight it, and thereby neutralize the effect of the dust coating our window. The scene speaks of a long and hard, yet rewarding, journey.
26-MAY-2014
A call at the wall, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
La Paz, a city of two million people who live at an altitude of 12,000 feet, is the highest capital city in the world. The ever present thin air encouraged me to produce this hallucinatory scene. A man in a blue jacket was making a call before a wall covered by a psychedelic mural. He pays no heed to the blue bear that seems to sniff his backpack. Nor is he at all concerned about the giant red-eyed woman who seems to be hanging on his every word. We are left to interpret the meaning of this scene as we wish. Meanwhile, the man on the phone sees or hears none of it. He is too busy listening to the voice in his ear.
26-MAY-2014
Perspective, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
La Paz seems to climb as much as it sprawls. This neighborhood, near the center of the city, offers a crazy quilt pattern of apartment buildings jammed together as if in a jigsaw puzzle. I made this image with a long 345mm telephoto focal length, which creates a flattened perspective. The lens interprets space in an incongruous manner, creating an image that seems more like a disoriented dream than reality.
26-MAY-2014
Urban mosaic, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
Morning crowds, flowing through the narrow streets of downtown La Paz, create a human mosaic of color, gender, age, costume, and intention. I use a high vantage point to frame the light, color, pattern, and rhythms of this scene. Vividly colored signs bordering the street advertise technology, giving the scene its reference in time. This image tells the story of urbanity, the human texture of the city itself.
26-MAY-2014
Minibus, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
Dozens of well-worn minibuses provide mass transportation into the heart of La Paz. This one has just pulled up to a tiled ramp and unloaded a capacity crowd of passengers. I waited until all of them had departed, and then photographed the driver as he grabbed a quick smoke alongside the woman who manages this bus. She stands in its doorway to attract the next load of customers, wearing the vivid costume of one of Bolivia’s ethnic cultures, and using a sing- song voice to chant the route of the bus. I interpret this scene by juxtaposing this incongruous couple with each other. There are many contrasts. The man relaxes while the woman works. The man wears jeans and jacket, while the woman is clothed in a long red dress, a pink apron, and a blue conical hat. The man holds the lower ground, while the woman uses the high step. I moved in and made this image from a low angle, removing as much of the irrelevant background as possible by blocking it with the bus. The bus offers background context for these people who are responsible for driving, managing, and marketing it.
26-MAY-2014
Office workers, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
White-collar workers are relatively inconspicuous on the streets of La Paz, even though the city is the capital of Bolivia. To see two of them waiting for transportation was a rare event. Even more important to my interpretation is the graffiti-laden setting behind them. Graffiti is all over La Paz – its defaced walls are the stuff of anarchy, while people who wear suits, jackets, and ties are almost always tied to the establishment – essentially Bolivia’s government and its corporations. This image is interpretive because it juxtaposes and contrasts social symbols to tell its story. One of the men holds a heavy briefcase in one hand and scratches his face with the other. He does not even see the other man, who stands just ten feet away and is having a telephone conversation. They may share similar status as white- collar workers, yet they do not acknowledge each other’s presence, and ignore even looking at the chaotic words that shout at them from behind.
26-MAY-2014
Crosswalk, La Paz, Bolivia, 2014
I combine red, yellow, and blue, the three primary colors, in this interpretive portrait of a young boy waiting to cross a busy street in the center of La Paz. The key to the image is his hand gesture. He places both of them upon his heart as he looks towards the oncoming traffic. Gestures are interpretive symbols – they stand for feelings, and in this case the gesture symbolizes vulnerability. The graffiti, signage, and crudely painted wall behind him intensify his sense of isolation. Yet his apparent vulnerability also contrasts to the boldness of his costume. It is an athletic warm up suit, and the red color contradicts his vulnerable gesture. The red costume demands our attention. It's assertive color shows us the man he wants to become, and it makes him all the stronger because of it.
26-MAY-2014
Moneychanger, La Paz, Bolivia. 2014
In this, the final image of this gallery, I speak of the history of
Bolivia itself. This indigenous woman, who changes money on the streets of La Paz, wears a traditional costume. It includes a bowler hat, worn by Bolivia’s Quecha and Aymara peoples since the 1920s, when British railway workers first introduced them to the country. She also wears the proud profile of the Inca Empire – an amalgamation of languages, cultures and peoples once holding great wealth and power. Her ancestors built a great civilization here long before the Spanish came to conquer South America, bearing the cross in one hand and the sword in the other. The Spanish conquistadors pillaged South America for its gold and silver, and by choosing a present day Bolivian money-changer as my subject, I create an interpretive image that merges past with present. It is an ironic scene that will always linger in my memory.