Photos

The village of Puerto Miguel is in the Amazon basin region of Peru. The children there were great, very friendly and not shy at all. This particular little girl helped me shop for a bit, then we sat down and talked with each other. She was there with her mother and sisters, and they came to the market once a week to sell things.

Because there is so much water all around, most of the kids learn to paddle and steer a boat before they are five – we saw quite a few children in small canoes, sitting at the bow and paddling around as if it was easier for them than walking. Puerto Miguel village is about a 20 minute boat trip from Yacumama Lodge, located about 180km up the Amazon river from Iquitos on a tributary called Rio Yarapa. The wood carvings, baskets, and other crafts are original, unique to the region, and worth the trip, although, a drum we bought, that had a great tone in the jungle’s humid air, has never quite sounded as nice since it left the Amazon...

Technical aspects: scanned from a negative, so I cloned out scratches, sharpened and resized, then added the border.

Goal: She had such great light in her face and eyes, I hoped the photo would show that.