“Georgia O’Keefe”
Today I’m scanning my Peru shots. Some of them have been published in travel brochures, but I haven’t had them on the web since I accidentally deleted my first website. (Don’t ask!) It’ll take me a while to get my Peru portfolio on my site, but I want to show you what I’m working on.
I start with this little woman who lives in the mountains above the village of Pisac in the Sacred Valley. I call her Georgia O’Keefe after O’Keefe’s style of dressing in black with a black sombrero when she was working in New Mexico.
Here she stands before me, all 4 and a half feet of her, offering me something. I can’t remember what it was now. I just remember her hospitality and seeing her try to get a grip on why this stranger was interested in photographing her and her home. I had a driver who explained to her what I was doing. Still, how much sense could it all make to someone who lived in relative isolation at 11,000ft?
She was very co-operative and climbed in and out of the door to her cottage as I requested. I remember her chuckling to herself at this. She was a good model, nimble and good natured, and did as I asked, no questions.
Peruvian style
I was struck by the fact that the cottages had no chimneys and no windows. I got the impression that the mountain Indians lived their lives out of doors and the cottage was just a shelter for the night and during the rains or snows. I peeked in and saw an empty room…there was stuff in it, but no furniture. I imagine she might take her newborn animals in there for warmth if necessary.
The other thing I noticed was that none of the Indians wore sox. It was springtime so maybe they thought it was too warm for sox, but it wasn’t. I wore a down jacket and kept it on except at high noon. The skin on their feet was roughened by the weather. They wore only homemade sandals. The women wore the full, knee-length skirts but maybe underneath they had some woolen undergarments. I hope so. Their legs would have been freezing otherwise.
At home in the Andes
I shot with TMAX 3200 at the time. It and Tri-X were my favorite films because I could push them. I often went into dark homes, barns, caves, tents and wanted to be ready. My shots are often grainy, but I don’t mind that.
I was remembering some photos by Cartier-Bresson when I hit upon this idea of “Georgia” in the doorway. I used to pour over books of photos by the masters with the idea that when I was in a similar situation, these wonderful photos would pop into my mind and I would have a basis for posing and composing my own work