Maximiliana
I met Mrs. Maximiliana while she was chopping carrots in front of her house. With a smile she asked me who I was and what I was doing in town. A conversation started. She is 75 and was helping prepare a meal for a celebration the next day, her granddaughter’s wedding. Maximiliana is a herder in Huancavelica and a few days after the wedding she will leave Morococha. I was very interested in her rings, some of them made of old Peruvian coins.
Portraits from the archive
I was just thinking about these portraits I shot at least three years ago in Rochester, New York. They are part of a series of portraits of immigrants at their workplaces. These portraits marked my interest of portraiture as a storytelling tool.
Susana
When I entered the room the interview had already started. I knocked on the door and then silence. It doesn’t matter if I agree or not with her government policies, my first impression of Susana Villaran, mayor of Lima, was a very good one. She welcomed me as if we were old friends getting together for an afternoon coffee. I usually have to work to get the person in front of my camera to relax. In this case, it was her who made me feel relaxed and right at home in City Hall.
Classy gentlemen
When shooting a portrait, besides trying to convey the personality of the person photographed, I am looking to create an image that has some visual impact. My training tells me to look for the unusual, the never-seen-before. In some cases though, the classic and traditional suit the character of the person in front of my lens better.
Portraits shot for the August issue of G de Gestion.
Falcon
I took guitar lessons back when I was a child. It was one of the many lessons my parents signed me up for that went on to lengthen the list of my childhood afterschool activities. The illusion of having a child guitarist lasted just about three years. Today, unfortunately, I can’t play a single note. One of the things I remember though, is my guitar. A brand new Falcon my parents got me and my brother. Smooth and shiny. The fret too large for my small hands. Last week I had the chance to visit a Falcon shop with my colleague Jose Vadillo to meet German Falcon, luthier and inventor.
Cloistered
How often do you meet cloistered nuns? Me? Not very often. The assignment promised to be particularly interesting. A group of cloistered nuns would open their doors for me to photograph them cooking their famous sweets. I got there and it was a false alarm, though I still had a great time talking to the mother superior. She insisted on having her portrait taken behind bars.
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
I just returned to Lima after a few days in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, taking photos for Pro Mujer, an NGO that works to improve women’s lives and fight poverty in Latin America. Elie Gardner and I went together to record photo and video interviews of the women Pro Mujer serves. It was definitely inspiring to hear their stories.
