Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

reader0428 · 12:08 AM

I had the opportunity to travel to Peru in early January with a group of young adult artists (I'm well past the 30-year mark, I'm surprised they let me go!). We went to meet with Lutheran congregations in Lima and Cusco, with whom the Lutheran churches in southern Texas and Southern Louisiana have relationships. The purpose of the trip was to gather materials to create art to help tell the story of people living in Peru, and to create resources to encourage people to give to a scholarship fund for more people to travel there. You can read more here if you're interested. The first two days were great, than 9 out of our group of 12 contracted salmonella and were hospitalized for the remainder of our stay (some in Lima, some in Cusco). Very disappointing since is was a short trip to begin with - all i got to see of Cusco was the view out my hospital window - our whole group missed the trip to Macchu Pichu. I did love playing with the rented 24-105L though! :)

Anyway, here are some of the images. My photography experience is in portraits, so I found myself doing more casual portrait-type shooting than PJ. The exposure was a mess a lot of the time, and these are probably no more than average snapshots, but I like the emotions in a lot of them and wanted to share. I know it's hard to CC with so many (unnumbered) images, but if you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them.

All of these photos were taken at Congregacion Filidelfia, in a very poor area on the outskirts of Lima (where lots of the rural people settled during the flight from the mountains when the Shining Path was terrorizing the countryside).

The kids were absolutely enthralled with the cameras.

We also enlisted the people to make art. We set up stations for making "prayer flags" and handprint crosses on canvas.

If you've hung in there this long, you get to see some of my faves. :) This first one is my absolute favorite shot from the trip.

Probably my second fave:

And a couple of collages to wrap it up:

Whew! Thanks for looking!

hue-e · 01-20-2011, 07:29 AM

that's awesome... peru is on the top of my bucket list of places to go.

did you guys go volunteer at a school? I ask because of the art class shots. looks like a blast.

btw, great shots, you captured some cool moments.

tml · 01-20-2011, 07:29 AM

Very nice experience you had, Amanda. My favorite are: #16 with the boy mesmerized by the camera screen, #20 with the boy with yellow-sleeve shirt... beautiful light, and #26 with the elderly lady with white hair... so much wisdom and beautiful light. Thank you for sharing.

Tri

Tom · 01-20-2011, 07:48 AM

Very nice pics!

After visiting the Taj Mahal a couple years ago, I put the various wonders of the world on my bucket list. Machu Picchu is at the very top of that list. Did you get to go there while you were in Peru?

reader0428 · 01-20-2011, 08:11 AM

Thanks for the comments guys!

@Patrick - no, this was a Lutheran church. Our trip was focuesd on art and called "Beyond Words". See the description for more info.

@Thomas - we were supposed to go to Macchu Pichu, but most of our group fell ill with salmonella and we all missed the trip. I passed out on the flight from Lima to Cusco and was immediately taken to the hospital when we landed. I was in the hospital both nights were were in Cusco, but luckily was discharged the morning of our flight back to Lima. See intial description for the full story...

wclavey · 01-20-2011, 11:43 AM

Amanda, I lived in Peru back in the late 1970s, out in the provinces, and your pictures are a nice reminder... thanks for sharing them. Also, you have a well known name in Peru for the airline business, at least back when we lived there: Faucett. All out internal flights during that time were either Aero Peru or Faucett.

lscottpht · 09:53 PM

Sooooo jealous! You did a great job! Thanks for letting me know you posted these. I will have to talk to you all about your trip. As I told you (I think), it's my dream to go to Peru. Someday! So sorry to hear about the Salmonella! Glad you and your group are better.