PERU

I find my inspiration in ever-more remote places populated by indigenous, ritual-bound people whose architectural color springs organically from their history, geography, and faith. I consider my photographs to be documentary: the colors, subjects, and details are captured exactly as found.

A dozen years pursuing painted color in the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea were followed by a decade’s search in the lesser-known corners of Mexico and Central America. Then in 2002, I unfolded my map of South America.  My search began in Peru, and for three years I wandered no further. 

Unlike my quest for color in the Mediterranean and Mesoamerica, Peru’s rich, vernacular paint proves far more elusive.  In fact, it was only at the end of my second extended journey there that I finally came upon two rarely-visited neighboring departmentos isolated high in the Andean Mountains. Hidden deep within jagged river valleys, I discovered dozens of rural, pre-Inca communities still ordering their lives and beliefs around the agricultural cycle of potatoes and quinoa—no different from their ancient ancestors.  Their strings of simple houses, rustic sixteenth-century churches, enigmatic markets, and even the brightly-clothed villagers themselves are all ablaze with color.

An ancient land still rich in traditional cultures and color, Peru’s pre-Columbian past endures on each adobe wall and village path. Peru truly remains a realm outside of time.