My Photo scholarship 2011 entry
Worldwide | Monday, November 7, 2011 | 
flickr photos
La Senda Verde is an animal refuge near La Paz in Bolivia. The plan was originally to backpack through every country on the continent (it had taken two years of saving to afford the year-long trip). However I fell in love with the refuge, hidden away among small Quechuan communities in a humid Yungas valley. Spider Monkeys playing outside my tree house in the morning, the sound of Macaws in the air, the crisp, cold clear blue sky - and the amazing light and a chance to live among animals with my camera. - my camera was chewed, ripped apart and had muddy leaves wiped on its lens (I think the monkeys were cleaning it for me). I ended up volunteering for three months – it was the best decision of my trip, I was in heaven. I chose these images because the story of La Senda is its animals, most of whom had been kept as pets by abusive owners. You get to know their names and their personalities, while being constantly reminded by their behaviour that they are wild animals and you are in their territory. I took thousands of photos of South American scenery - but it is the photos I took of the animals at La Senda that bring back the fondest memories. I hope they don't look out of place among the competition, I wish I had the experience and photographic knowledge to tell the full story of the place - I would eagerly soak up Jason's advice and gleefully join him neck deep in those rivers! I am currently studying for a law degree and have no photographic training, none of the photos have been touched up in Photoshop, they are straight from the camera. I live in Manchester in the UK and am 26.
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