Internship

Photo Amazon

Photo Amazon is a budding photography agency in Leticia in the Colombian Amazon. The agency’s founder, Chan Hirofumi Shigematsu, is a Colombian of Japanese descent. Four years ago, he settled in the city of Leticia where he manages a nature reserve with a mandate to protect the Amazonian forest and the first nations peoples who live there. Chan has a background and training in web design and photography; and he is currently employed in these disciplines with the Japanese embassy in Colombia. He also has several years of experience working for civil society and international peace organizations such as the United Nations.

Serendipity played a role in how I came to take part in Chan’s project. Chan coincidentally introduced me to the nature reserve in Leticia through “Couch Surfing”, a website that helps travelers to find free lodging. I met Chan as a “surfer” and we were delighted to learn of our mutual love of photography and Amazonia in addition to our mutual fascination with its aboriginal peoples. He told me about Photo Amazon which seemed like an undreamed of opportunity to obtain relevant work experience in Amazonia.

We planned out a period of work experience that had to be delayed due to unexpected events affecting my host’s availability. As a result, my work experience began on April 20 and lengthened into a timeframe of one month with a few breaks during that period. I was assigned the work, broadly speaking, to take pictures for the web page of Photo Amazon.

My work experience played out in a cheerful and relaxed manner. My host provided me with a place to live in the heart of the reserve in a very rustic cabin. This allowed me to live without the complications of having to arrange for accommodation or transportation. While this proximity to my host allowed for an easy exchange of ideas and facilitated my growing understanding of his, this proximity also had a detrimental affect on our ability to work efficiently as we often got off track with conversations that were unrelated to the work at hand.

Chan taught me the basics of web site creation through computer-based instruction. We worked through several exercises which greatly accelerated my learning experience. Nonetheless, I found these lessons were very intensive and I was often mortified because I could not quickly absorb this information, thus slowing down the process. Chan also gave me several lessons in Photoshop. I had received similar instruction in my undergraduate studies, but this had taken place several years ago and I had forgotten many useful (and useless) tricks. With a sense of play, we reviewed this software and had fun altering photographs and creating a surreal universe.

Without a doubt, the most fascinating part of the work experience occurred when we completed various photo expeditions to help promote Photo Amazon. I truly appreciated the efforts made by my host to provide me with a better understanding of Amazonia while living through unforgettable experiences.

For example, we walked for miles through the jungle to reach an aboriginal community of the Huitoto tribe. This journey allowed me to speak with the tribe members and to learn more about the issues facing Amazonian aboriginal groups. The chief was appalled that the municipality of Leticia had chosen his lands upon which to establish a new municipal dump. He explained that the contamination that would result from this dump would have disastrous consequences for his community.

On another trip, we met a member of the Ticuna indigenous group who introduced us to traditional fishing techniques. During our various expeditions, we both photographed similar imagery, recording the cultural and day-to-day lives of Amazonian people.

The pink dolphin of the Amazon is one of the primary tourist attractions of this region and Chan thought that it would be a good idea to promote the Photo Amazon web site with photographs of this dolphin. Hoping to take some marketable shots of this famous aquatic mammal, we boated on the Amazon for an entire day. We spotted dozens of specimens but returned to the reserve with disappointing images; it was impossible to pick out the unpredictable dolphins in our photos. Despite this, I found the experience exceptionally memorable.

Following each photo shoot, we reviewed and critiqued each day’s images. Chan’s feedback seemed too enthusiastic to be truly useful, and I believe that the desire to preserve harmony and maintain a good working relationship may have impaired productive critical expression.

Occasionally, Chan had professional obligations that precluded his ability to work with me. I took advantage of these times to explore my environment, camera in hand. I held a photo shoot with the students of a nearby school and developed a bond with a few of the students. I met with them again a few days later and the photos I took of two students while they swam in the river will very likely have commercial value.

Even though it was inconvenient at times, the informal and relaxed nature of the work resulted in a very pleasant experience for me. I found that working in a friendly and hospitable environment facilitated my learning and creativity. In the past, I have worked in extremely stressful work environments in journalism, and by comparison, it was a relief to work in such a welcoming environment. Not only did I feel useful and valued, but I also enjoyed the experience and gained considerable knowledge of computer software and of Amazonia in general.