Iruya. Inside the Mountains

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Friday, October 15, 2010 | 5 photos

Latin America is a big diverse continent with many hidden treasures of people and landscapes. I took these pictures during one of the stops of my latest trip trough Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Iruya is a little town inside the mountains in the north of Argentina. You can get there by taking an old bus that goes trough a very risky stone road by the side of the mountain, it is like going to a secret place. Once you get there you can feel the magic and special energy of the town and it's people. Even though they don´t have many belongings and the climate is rough and arid they always have a smile and the doors open with a typical dish to share. Iruya is full of particular colors, smells, tastes, feelings and great stories.

I get there because I am very curious and adventurous and I have always preferred to learn by experience and by listening to others. That is why I started traveling. With it came the realization that it wasn't enough for me to take part of my culture to those places and engage with the people that live there. I needed to take what they had shown me and share it with others. So, I started taking pictures because sometimes words were not enough. Photography is a way for me to understand, feel and show the world as I see it. I try to share the little that I know because I believe that knowing and understanding are bridges to a better future, a more sustainable one.

I think that this scholarship will help me to continue my learning, and in turn show others all the human and nature richness that are hidden in other places. Appreciating what we have in this world is the first step to preserving it and to tolerate the differences of other cultures. In the end there's not a better way to live and we have just one world to share so we need to take care of it.