Indigenas Yagua, Amazonas, Colombia |
When a Yagua woman is pregnant she eats cayman eggs so that her kids will have blond hair and clear eyes. It seems to work as there are no native blondes as far as I am aware in the rest of the Americas... In general Indigenous people are extremely difficult to approach. The closer they are to their original habits and lifestyle, the more suspicious of Western people. The tale that Indians would be afraid of photos as they think they steal their image is partly true - they feel Westerners approaching them to learn from their culture, invent medicines, make books and film documentaries are making money off their backs and their suffering without giving anything back to their communities. In general the best way to get access to a community is when helped by NGO's that have given aid or accompanied by medics that have gained confidence. Even then it usually takes hours and hours of convincing before you can whip that camera out...
Other Photos
of the Month: The
'photo of the month' is not meant as something pretentious, it is not
even chosen by any jury. It could be an advertising photo I did, or a
photo for a magazine or record cover. Something telling you of a journey
I made or the city I'm in. Or a snapshot of my girlfriend. The only criterium
it has to meet is that it was made in the last month. And that I believe
it is worth bothering you with... |