I just made this epic tome of my images from Peru. I built it as a book dummy and portfolio piece. Its about 160 pages and is being printed on high quality, Ilford Pearl Lustre paper with archival end pages, an oatmeal colored linen cover with this cool, wrap around cover sheet. You can view it here and even order one though its damn expensive. My concept for the book was to show different vignettes and photo stories from my 9 months of travel in Peru in 2009 and have fun, colorful chapter breaks with grids of various cultural items. Some examples below.
Met this nice chap on the grounds of the Shreveport, Louisiana state court building. I was there photographing for my project on historical sites of racial violence.
Neo-Druids, the contemporary followers of the ancient order of Druids, gather four times a year at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain of South-Central England. During the Winter and Summer Solstice and Equinox, the 3000 year old site is opened fully to spiritual revelry. … Continue reading →
While in China a couple months ago I visited the rural province of Jinagxi which is the SouthEast, about 6 hours from Shanghai. While walking a road thru a lush mountain valley on the way to an isolated village I was struck by the incredible amount of insects and reptile buzzing, hopping and slithering about. The snakes were so prevalent they were ubiquitous roadkill.
In October I went to China to visit family and during my two-week trip there my mother and I ventured into the South Eastern province of Jianxi, a rural area full of farms, the city that originated blue painted porcelain ceramics to the world and of 1000 year old “postal roads”. These trails, in-which mail was delivered, meander thru and over lush mountain valley’s connecting isolated ancient villages. We did a 9 mile hike (uphill by mistake…sorry mom!.) and ended in Big Liking, one of a handful of hamlet style villages surrounding the small city of Wuyuan. I was struck by the architecture, the serenity, the simplicity, the human shit used for fertilizer. We walked around this tiny village and others nearby for two days and these are my images.
Graffiti carved in moss
Inside an 800 year old Hall.
The Postal Roads that we hiked on. We had come from 10 miles back up and over that valley.
Antique barber chair.
The middle room, open to the sky, of a typical home.
I went to Stonehenge on the Winter Solstice in search of Neo-Druids and I was not let down. As there is no public transportation there I opted for a 3 mile hike in the dark on a confusing public footpath which went thru farms and fields. Thousands of pantheist, pagan, neo-druids and hippies arrive in mass before sunrise on this day, one of the four during the year in-which people are able to get in amongst this giant, 6000 year old monument, touching, communing and praying with the stones. Epic photos of this to come soon.. film being souped!
Child of Neo-Druid.
And after a day of photographing and communing amongst pantheists of all stripes and visiting some other ancient sacred sites and doing an epic sound healing ceremony with multiple gongs working male and female energy while holding a tiny stone lingam, what else was there to do but partake in the oldest of English traditions, Fish and Chips. Those are “mushy peas” on the bottom right. Fish was tasty and I must say, they do have some damn good “chips” (french fries in the US) in the UK. Our “chips” are their “crisps”.
After waking up in my new hippie friends RV in Glastonbury I had to hustle back to Brighton but not before a sunrise hike up to an ancient “Tor”…This tower, which used to be part of a monastery, and had once been surrounded by water, has been a pilgrimage spot for Christians for 1000′s of years. Its steeped in celtic mythological lore and is said to be a possible burial ground of the Holy Grail. From Wikipedia: “Gwyn ap Nudd, who was first Lord of the Underworld, and later King of the Fairies,.. The Tor came to be represented as an entrance to Annwn or Avalon, the land of the fairies”.
The roaring, loud winds sent ravens buzzing around the tower and I and lent the atmosphere a welcome Hitchcockian ominousness.
Back in Brighton, a seaside English town that people once used for beach escapes but are now, in greater numbers, choosing to live in year round as a respite from London’s hustle and flow ($$) and commute to work via a 45 minute $23.00 train.
My first European Football game. The Brighton and Hove/Albion Seagulls. Was a huge thrill. Splurged on a ticket out front of the game paying around $50.00 With two red cards against the home team in the first 5 minutes the audience was out for referee blood but not forgoing their English niceties, the crowd chanted, in perfect unison (a practice unheard of in the U.S.) “What a loooaad of rubbbish, What a looaaadd of rubbbbish”. It was a bloody good game and I was completely knackered after.
Here is a video of them complaining about the terrible refs in a very mannered way.
Refreshment stand at the stadium.
Loved this happy bloke though I couldn’t understand a bloody word he spat out but as far as I could tell, he was a mighty good chap.
On the menu I spotted a “Gammon Steak” and thought I deserved a bit of an indulgence after a couple of days of roughing it. This funky dish appeared in front me after about 30 minutes. The perfect Guinness helped wash it down.
No idea. Didn’t try either. Did have the originator of the “Egg McMuffin” which was delicious.
The sign reads, “commit no nuisance”. Was a non-working 400 year old public drinking fountain and the locals, the heathens, had not heeded their English manners.
This guy scared me into photographing him at a local Brighton mall of sorts.
Off to London.. And the first thing my brilliant, thoughtful girlfriend does is take me to this bit of tasty history, down in Brick Lane, one of the hipster/bohemian parts of town. As it used to be the Jewish Quarter there was ”beigel” place from 1855. Has a synagogue from 1701! Living in the Lower East Side of NYC for a couple of years I was fiercely protective of my local old school bialy/bagel shop Kossars, loving the fact that it had been around for what I thought of as ages. Turns out only 65 years ?? What? Feels like 100.
And, they pile mounds of “smoked meat” into the pillowy middle of the delicious, simple and semi-small bagel. Corned Beef. Unreal. Line was out the door. Mustard was like yellow wasabi..had crazy brain burn.
Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds at the Tate Modern. The piece is one million hand-made porcelain sunflower seeds made in Jingdezhen, where I passed thru with my mom travelling a couple of months ago. Photos.
I loved the design and really appreciated the simple formality and functionality of these railing/benches in the Underground, London’s clean, rat free, easily marked, running on time, mass transit system. BUT, its spendy as hell and does shut down at midnight so if I had to choose, I would take our decrepit, filthy, unreliable, laborious to use, NYC Subway anytime.
Grannie brigade in search of christmas bargains.
Side trip to Canterbury. This is the Cathedral, built-in 597 A.D., the oldest in the UK and where Christianity first landed in England . Been a Pilgrimage spot for a 1000 years. The Archbishop of Canterbury calls it home, the main dude in the Church of England.
And then, we finished up with some nature taking in some of the English walking paths. The country is littered with trails that connect hamlets and villages. At 500 ft., this is England’s most favored spots for suicide. They have an emergency chaplaincy team who hurry out to the site to thwart poor tortured souls plans.
We did the “Seven Sisters” hike, a 10 mile hike along the cliffs just 20 miles East from Brighton. I hadn’t experienced a similar topography before and its rolling hills, short natural grasses and mud, its grazing animals and views of picture perfect hamlets was something to behold. We timed it for great weather and Radioheads new album had me running up the last mile uphill doing weird little side stepping dance moves. Calves locked up for two days after. Totally worth it.
The Sea, France lying just 2o miles off in the distance.
The Chinese classic and it was perfect: Slightly charred fried green beans with garlic and chicken in a light brown sauce. Shanghai.
Head Cheese. (wondering what the character means for Head Cheese. Just learned that Chinese words are formed by combining different words into one character. Might word for Head Cheese be the combination of: brains, repulsive, congealed and waste not?)
An employee meal in Jingdezhen (where Chinese blue and white porcelain obtained its finest form 1700 years ago). Food of note: far left, an amazing shredded fried potato dish, the classic and my favorite, sautéed greens with garlic and a pancake with scallions.
Green tea.
Wide array of tofu in a fantastic, local only market in Suzhou.
Curried lamb soup with hand-pulled noodles. Incredible curried fried rice at rear. I recently discovered Arabic influenced Chinese cuisine after reading a hilarious Sunday Routine in the NYT with Gary Shteyngart. I have been eating quite a bit in NYC but was a bit surprised to find it so prevalent. Loads of curry, lamb, skewers of bbq'd meats, hot fresh bread.
Shucked nuts
Attacking a stalk of sugarcane on a local bus from Wuyan to Guanxi in the Jianxi province..
Rice stuffed lotus root in sweet sauce.
Barrel baked bread. Coal bricks in the center, fresh dough (at left) is stuck to the interior walls and bakes in less than 2 minutes. Two types: One round piece stuffed with honey, the other an oval shape with scallions. One piece cost about 8 cents.
Another incredible bread dish. This fried bread with sesame seeds was served piping hot and one had the choice of a brushing of a spicy red pepper sauce. 15 cents for the bag.
30 types of Rice Wine. Two main types, dark or clear. The dark was similar to a tasty port. Clear was like moonshine. Some were quite expensive.
One of the best dished I had in China (though my stomach would dispute this the next day). Small whole fish in an extremely spicy pepper sauce. I would open up the fish with one chop stick and pull out the whole spine in tact, meat falling away. Must of eating 10. Washed down with lots of terrible Chinese beer which color could not have been a lesser yellow.
Egg sandwich from street vendor. Incredible sandwich I had waited 14 years to have again. A crepe batter with egg, scallions, sweat bean sauce, spicy pepper sauce, cilantro and fried wonton cracker folded over itself. Larger blog post devoted solely to this breakfast miracle in coming days.
In my last trip to Peru I stumbled upon a ceremony where people came to have their vehicles blessed by a priest in the parking lot of a 200 year old church. The priest from the church was going car to car and showering cars, people, engines, tires and grandmas alike with holy water as well as blessings to ensure the people safe travel. The church, located up a mountain from San Salvador in a tiny enclave named Huanca, hosts the ceremony every year and the 200 or so people had driven from all around Southern Peru.
The 200 year old church which hosts the ceremony is an hour East of Cusco, the city in the South of Peru that one goes to before venturing on to Machu Picchu.
Elder Andean women celebrating the ceremony by passing cups of beer.
Firecrackers were ubiquitous in the church parking lot.
The priest of the church bestowed blessings and holy water on the cars, its parts in entirety (engine, interior, tires, etc..) and as well as all of the family members.
In a side building off of the parking lot where candles are lite for prayers or in memorium. (Note the car icons formed in wax in the lower center.)
A couple with their blessed car.
The priest blesses the photographer.
Taxis, personal vehicles and giant trucks were all part of the ceremony. (Note the womans hair tie)
Confetti, holy water and beer were poured onto the engine of this typical taxi of Southern Peru.
Entire families attended the ceremonies. (Note the man in the background at right pouring a beer onto the engine.)
The typical dress of Andean women mixes Andean and Spanish influences.
Here is some film images from my recent three week trip to Peru. These are all from Peru’s capital city of Lima. Pizarro founded the city in 1535 in the valleys of three conjoined rivers, hence the overcast and smoggy air quality as the surrounding desert mountains don’t let the air circulate out to the ocean. Its said to be a dangerous place but I really dig it. Its medieval, depressed, gritty and alive…much more then the more up-scale suburbs that most tourists and Limenos prefer.
