Sean Duggan Blog

Allejandro

Allejandro; Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]

Allejandro runs the restaurant where we ate on most nights (and even some lunches and breakfasts). It was the same last year... we usually ended up eating at Allejandro's place. Great food, relaxed atmosphere, good prices, and excellent pisco sours (the Peruvian cocktail).

Allejandro is from Chile and is a big, larger than life personality. The kind of chef who comes out from the kitchen with a drink in hand to greet the patrons with a laugh and a joke and see how they are enjoying their meals. He makes one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever had. I am looking forward to having more of them when I go back next year!

Holga Repair

Holga Repair [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

While in Peru, my Holga slipped off my shoulder one day and slammed lens first into the cobblestone street. Upon first inspection it appeared to have weathered the shock OK, but then it became apparent that the lens would no longer turn to focus, and the shutter seemed to stick as well. Drat!

Fortunately, I came prepared with a set of small screwdrivers especially for taking apart the Holga (you know you're a confirmed toy camera geek when you travel with tools for emergency repairs to a $15 plastic camera!). The resulting operation necessitated the the total disassembly of the camera, more so than I had done in the past. This shot shows the procedure before I realized that I had to take the lens apart as well (all the way down to the curved plastic optic and accompanying gaskets to hold it in place).

The operation was a success and I was able to resume using the Holga for the remainder of my Peru trip (which included a Holga hommage to Machu Picchu). The lesson learned here is don't leave those tiny screwdrivers at home, and when airport security asks about them, hold your head high and proudly declare that they are for your Holga!

I shot eighteen rolls of 120 film in Peru; seventeen with the Holga and one in the Holga Pinhole. They are currently at the lab for processsing and my continued busy summer travel schedule and writing means that they probably won't begin to make an appearance here until the Fall.

Peeling Potatoes

Peeling Potatoes, Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

This is a companion piece (of sorts) to yesterday's image of the plasterer's hands. They both were taken in the same section of the old town of Ollantaytambo, the walled residential kanchas (courtyards) built by the Incas and still in use today.

For those interested in next year's Peru workshop, you can find more information at the Bridges to Understanding web site. There are no dates set yet, but it will be in July. There are also upcoming workshops in Kenya and Guatemala.

The Plasterer's Hands

The Plasterer's Hands
Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

Quechua Woman & Volkswagon

Quechua Woman & Volkswagon,
Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]

Blacksmith

Luis, Blacksmith...Ollataytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]

Much of the work we did at the Bridges workshop in Peru involved portraiture of the local people. Luis' small blacksmith shop was a few doors down from our hotel and when I found him at work one day I asked if I could photograph him. Here's another image of him at work.

 

Cusco Riot Police

Cusco Riot Police [Canon 10D]
(click in the image for a larger version)

On my final day in Peru there was a countrywide transit strike and large demonstrations protesting the high cost of gasoline and insurance rates for taxi drivers. This meant that no taxis, busses, or cars of any kind were operating that day. Since I had to get to the Cusco airport for an afternoon flight to Lima, this presented a bit of a dilemma. Apparently, even if I had been able to find a taxi driver willing to brave the demonstrators, he would run the risk of having his car pelted with large rocks if he ran into any of them. In the end, the proprietor of my hostal enlisted the aid of a friend and they used two dirt bikes to transport me and my luggage to the airport, using narrow, cobblestone back streets to avoid the main groups of demonstrators. By the time we left, things had quieted down considerably, so it was an uneventful ride, but we did drive along streets that were littered with rocks and large chunks of concrete, which I presume was evidence of previous violence.

This image was taken in the main Plaza de Armas. In this area of the city the protests were large but peaceful and the riot police in the Plaza spent the day on the sidelines. I asked if I could photograph them and they were most obliging. The man on the far right is named Amelio.

The scuffed and scratched surface is from an old piece of plastic that was scanned and then added in Photoshop.

Cemetery Sunset

Cemetery Sunset, Ollantaytambo, Peru [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

One of the good things about spending many days in one place is that you can observe how the light affects certain locations at different times of the day and then return to take advantage of it. For nearly all of the workshop, we were based in Ollantaytambo, and this allowed us a great deal of time to get to know the different types of light throughout the day. After first photographing this scene in the local cemetery, I returned two days later to re-consider it.

This is actualy a blend of two separate exposures (both handheld). One shot was exposed for the backlit cross window, and the other one was exposed to bring out more detail in the row of tombs on the right side of the image. The two shots were then composited together in Photoshop. A dose of my "sepiaesque" brown toning was added after the composiute was finished.

Forbidden Luggage

Forbidden Luggage, Houston Airport [Canon 10D]
(click in the image to see a larger version)

I returned from Peru yesterday morning. This image was taken in the baggage claim area of Houston/George Bush Airport. Atop each baggage carousel are lots of these opaque yet translucent suitcases and travel bags that are illuminated from within. The colors of the lights changes every so often. I thought they looked pretty cool and started taking some pictures. I managed to get only one before I was approached by a large, burly luggage handler who informed me that photographing in the baggage claim area was not allowed.  I remarked to him that, with such a visually interesting piece of sculture, people must be moved to photograph it all the time. He wearily nodded his head and moved off to another area. So this is my one and only shot of the forbidden luggage of George Bush airport.

Scads of images from the latest adventure in the Andes of Peru coming soon!