Bolivia Part 1 April 11, 2011
I’ve just returned from a multi week assignment in Bolivia shooting stills and video for a non profit client’s annual report. We were based in the Cuchemuela district about an hour’s drive from Cochabamba near the majority of the projects they have in operation. With a team that consisted of a creative director, marketing director, writer, translators, drivers, local ngo liason’s, government officials and myself, we packed into two SUV’s everyday with the goal of telling the story of how my client works to ensure that everyone has access to water and sanitation in this region. I’m planning to post a series of images over the coming weeks that illustrate the work they’re doing as well some of my favorite images accompanied with a little backstory and insight into how photographers associated with Project Exposure work on location.
This particular image was shot from the balcony of my room at the hostel where we were staying in the small village of Villa Rivero. Each day we would return from shooting and traveling continuously and start the process of downloading and backing up the stills and video. On this day I checked to see what was going on out in the street and was delighted to see this woman cleaning up her front door in preparation for the upcoming carnival festivities. I shot a series of images at different focal lengths capturing her as she went about her business. This is one of my favorites because of her gaze and posture as well as the great color combination of the pastel blue door, pink dust pan and her multihued clothing against the amazing texture of the crumbling adobe wall. This type of image, while not literally about water or sanitation, is the type of shot we strived to capture because it highlights the people and the lives my client’s work impacts rather than focusing on themselves.