A native Ticuna from the Colombian Amazon and father of eight children from two different marriages, Alejandro lives in extreme poverty on the outskirts of Tabatinga. In order to survive, he sells yucca pancakes, earning about five dollars a day.
During the photography session with Alejandro, I restrained myself from taking any direct photos of my subject in the hopes that this limitation would allow my project to go in an unusual direction.
With this in mind, I photographed those objects that are a part of his daily life: his tools, the cooking utensils that he uses for making pancakes, his few animals, as well as images that he has hung on the walls of his shack.
My attention was particularly drawn to a collage made up of old photos of children whose features have been virtually erased by time and humidity. Alejandro confided to me that they are the children of his first marriage and that today he no longer has contact with them. These images, imbued with an especially rich texture, are very powerful not only for esthetic reasons but also because of the memories that they evoke.
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