I’m resuming my photo diaries. So much has happened over the past couple of months and the current situation with the coronavirus is overtaking the world. I hope these images and words might be a nice distraction. I’ll start from where I left off…
A new year’s eve, a few days in Cusco and we were headed for the coast again. More mountain roads. More fascinating situations and spectacular scenery. I’d be picking up my parents in Lima. Since we’re not planning to go back to Australia any time soon, they came to visit us here.
As I mentioned before, I’m a bit over the coast, but… a short trip there is fine. Also, I found an amazing new area that I somehow never visited before. I’ll have photos of it towards the end.
Last days in the mountains
“Traffic” in high mountains along the Cusco to Abancay road (going back towards the coast). Many of the areas next to this road are used as pastures for animals. Seeing sheep or alpacas cross the road is not unusual, even though I still get excited about it.
Alpacas from above. Some really react to the drone. Others don’t. These ones came together and started running as my drone hovered over them . When I flew away, a shepherd appeared out of nowhere and swiftly chased them back to where they came from.
The area around Abancay has a lot of potato fields and other agricultural land. The scale and all the patterns only become apparent once you’re above it all with a drone.
Driving along a part of the Abancay-Andahuaylas road I noticed some women in colourful dresses and heard singing and music. I couldn’t resist pulling over and seeing what it was all about. Turns out, it was a small group preparing for a birthday party.
The woman in the middle is a singer and there were traditional musicians too. I asked if I can make some photos. If I can be their photographer for a bit. They were happy for me to follow around.
“We’re proud of our culture. We cherish it. I never want to lose it.” Said the young woman. You could tell that she was surprised but really happy that a random foreigner took so much interest in what mattered to her so much.
The rainy season creates some great visual drama, like this rainbow over the valley in Abancay.
The weather seems to change every few kilometers in the mountains. Just a few minutes after the rainbow, I was in the fog. There I came across a woman with a cow. She was taking the animal towards a water stream. She too was ok with me taking some photos.
While I photographed her by the stream with the cow, an ovrheated car stopped to add some water to the radiator. A moment along the road. A record of the sort of everyday stuff that happens. It’s not a newspaper headline… just… life…
A grandmother and granddaughter in a village a bit further up the road. After talking to the woman with the cow, I finally decided to stop whenever I’d see someone or something interesting. I got into a rhythm, you could say.
It takes time to figure out what people’s nature is like. At last it clicked that most people along this road were quite welcoming and open to having their photos taken.
A Night drive through familiar places
Having to go back to the coast, I wanted to absorb as much of the scenery in the mountains as possible. A Jesus statue along a road, with some mountain scenery as a backdrop? Yep. I want to capture that.
All the photo stops meant that I wouldn’t get to my destination before dark. I avoid driving at night for most part, but… I already knew the way in this case, so I continued.
There’s something mystical about figures just appearing out of the dark, out of the fog. The night provided some unique opportunities.
During a toilet stop my car’s lights illuminated a couple of horses. Interesting image I thought, and made a few photos.
“Suddenly a man appeared from behind a hill. It looked like he had just gotten up off the ground.”
With my car engine running and the lights illuminating the horses, I heard a woman’s voice from a nearby house. The owner, I guess. She must have been worried to see a car stopped for an extended period of time close to her property so late in the evening.
Suddenly a man appeared from behind a hill. It looked like he had just gotten up off the ground. He mumbled something, not sounding too happy. His mouth was covered in what looked like dirt. I asked if I could take his photo. He mumbled again. I took a photo, shook his hand and left.
Ayacucho again
The night drive brought us to the city of Andahuaylas for the night. The next day, we were back in Ayacucho.
Now more familiar with Ayacucho and what I wanted to capture there, I focused my time on the spots which were particularly interesting visually, to me.
Spots with a constant flow of people. Interaction. Faces. So many faces. I used my 90-400mm (equivalent) Panasonic lens to capture scenes. Sometimes the distance is great not to break up the dynamics of what’s happening.
I made a few photos by the windows in the food court during my first visit to Ayacucho. This time I came early to catch more of the morning activity and the light peeking in.
A lot of people still read the morning newspaper in this part of the world. Weird how something that was so normal until recently in much of the world has become a fairly unusual sight.
I wonder if one day newspapers will look as strange as Walkmans and telephones with a dial to the new generation in the West. Maybe they already do?
The vegetable section of Ayacucho market. A burst of colors, rural women in traditional clothes. This section always seems to be buzzing. After a few visits, I think I even recognise some of the vendors.
Lunch time in one of the market’s food courts. So many tempting smells. So many dishes that I never had before. You can only fit so much into your stomach…
Father and daughter near “La Compañía de Jesús” church. Another place always buzzing with activity, but this was a quite moment, seconds after I took a photo of my girls here.
“In places like Ayacucho, you can’t help but ponder - How do these two seemingly different worlds still exist parallel to each other.”
An office worker and street-vendors in traditional clothes. The contrast of the present and the past is something that becomes quickly apparent on the streets of Ayacucho. This contrast, this change is a never ending fascinating for people like myself.
In places like Ayacucho, you can’t help but ponder - How do these two seemingly different worlds still exist parallel to each other.
Businessmen having a conversation in Plaza Mayor in Ayacucho. Lunch hour is when the plaza fills up with businessmen and office workers. They were so into their conversation that they didn’t even notice me after about 5 minutes of standing next to them and shooting.
Ayacucho - Lima road
Luz Milagro is a shepherd girl we met along the Ayacucho to Lima road. I wanted a photo of her with her dogs, but only managed to get one dog into the frame.
Her name - Luz Milagro, translates to "Light Miracle”. She was surprised to have a foreigner pull over along the road where she always herds her sheep and where probably nothing much ever happens.
Children sell cheese further along the road. A bag costs 2 soles, that’s less than $1 USD. It was school-holiday time, so the kids spend all day along the road hoping to sell all the cheese.
I asked the girl whether there were a lot of customers. “Not very many” She replied. We bought 2 bags.
Alex seems to be only 2 or 3 years old. He hangs out with his older siblings along the road, who also sell cheese. We got a bag from them too. The cheese is actually quite delicious, we stored all of it in the fridge, until we got to Lima, where we ate all of it with crackers.
I stopped to photograph what I thought were lamas grazing in the distance. A curious woman appeared from behind a rock. She spoke quechua, but switched to broken Spanish when she realised that I didn’t understand.
The woman “What are you doing?”
Me “I’m photographing those lamas.”
The woman “They’re not lamas, they’re alpacas. Lamas have longer necks.”
She was knitting socks for one of her children who lives oooover there.
New discoveries on the coast
One of the amazing things about Peru is that you always seem to come across new, incredible places, which aren’t on the tourist circuit.
One of such places is San Fernando nature reserve near Nazca.
Lobos marinos (sea wolves) in San Fernando nature reserve. This is a drone photo, as there’s no way to get down to them from a viewpoint above. I could get surprisingly close to the animals before they’d move away.
Another drone photo. This one is taken in San Juan de Marcona, a town on the way out of San Fernando to Nazca.
Back in familiar territory
More birds, this time further along the way to Lima, in Paracas, a more famous nature reserve. We decided to stop there for a day to break up the journey and, to enjoy the scenery.
There’s a sign in this particular spot in Paracas that says “Careful, migrating birds at rest.” We hung around there for a while and, there were indeed many birds, flying around and getting down on the rocks to rest.
“I guess you don’t get rewards or accolades for being happy. Being happy in itself is the reward. ”
It’s not easy to travel with family. And, the photo opportunities you have are different. Sometimes they’re limited. Sometimes you’re not as productive.
I often feel like my photographic career has slowed down since I’ve become a father. But my level of pure joy has gone up. I guess you don’t get rewards or accolades for being happy. Being happy in itself is the reward.
“ But when do we pump the brakes? When is the cost of “more” too much? ”
I watch Mia - my daughter and try to learn to appreciate the moment more, like her. Not to stress about all the “what ifs”. Not to compare myself to others.
It’s hard to reach a perfect balance. I don’t believe that we shouldn’t be competitive. I think it’s fine to want more. But when do we pump the brakes? When is the cost of “more” too much?
Mia is playing with the wind and her scarf on a sand dune. She plays for the sake of playing. There’s no objective. The game is the objective. She observes how the wind makes the scarf fly. She feels the wind and the scarf on her face, her hair. Mia has never experienced such wind before. She’s curious and tries to see if she can get on top of the scarf and fly on it like it was a flying carpet.
I’m so, so far away from being able to enjoy the moment like her. I only know a few adults who seem to genuinely be able to do it. I hope I’ll get there one day.
In Lima, ready for new adventures
I used to really like Lima. I don’t any more. I’ve been there too many times. Spent too much time that I could have spent on traveling and exploring this amazing country. But, I need to be here. To pick up my parents. To do more (never-ending) work on the car.
I try to make the most of it. It’s really nothing to complain about, when you look at the bigger picture.
Mia seems to enjoy Lima as much as she enjoys all the places that I consider amazing. She just adapts and focuses on whatever is special in a particular place. She doesn’t think about what she’s missing out on.
A couch in the lounge-room is a stage, a view of some ugly concrete buildings raises a “Wow, look at those patterns. They look like animals!” I’m reluctantly learning to appreciate whatever is in front of me, in large part, thanks to my daughter.
But… I’m not ready to ever give up on adventure, so… this is only a brief stop. More to come… Very soon…
