El Niňo, La Paz, Bolivia 1997
El Niňo, La Paz, Bolivia 1997
Before I set off for South America people had warned me that South America was one of the most difficult places to photograph people. The day after a 40-hours flight via via to the world’s highest-altitude airports La Paz in Bolivia, I went to a local market and there I saw a mother with her child wrapped in a blue blanket and when I see that special moment like in this case my adrenaline goes up a level or 2 as you don't know how much time you have with the moment or how you will capture the FRAME.
Using basic body language, I asked to photograph her child. She readily replied, “Si”. I was delighted and my fears lifted. However, two days later and for the next eight weeks, I experienced the local weather phenomenon, ironically called EL NINO, (which also means ‘the little boy’). The sky had turned white and I could not photograph any landscapes of Machu Picchu or the region’s mountains or lakes. El Niňo turned out to be the only shot I got on that trip, but it has been used as the opening photograph on the large KLM (DUTCH AIRLINE) Millennium calendar as well as the cover of LONELY PLANET BOLIVIA and numerous travel magazines around the world.
Before I set off for South America people had warned me that South America was one of the most difficult places to photograph people. The day after a 40-hours flight via via to the world’s highest-altitude airports La Paz in Bolivia, I went to a local market and there I saw a mother with her child wrapped in a blue blanket and when I see that special moment like in this case my adrenaline goes up a level or 2 as you don't know how much time you have with the moment or how you will capture the FRAME.
Using basic body language, I asked to photograph her child. She readily replied, “Si”. I was delighted and my fears lifted. However, two days later and for the next eight weeks, I experienced the local weather phenomenon, ironically called EL NINO, (which also means ‘the little boy’). The sky had turned white and I could not photograph any landscapes of Machu Picchu or the region’s mountains or lakes. El Niňo turned out to be the only shot I got on that trip, but it has been used as the opening photograph on the large KLM (DUTCH AIRLINE) Millennium calendar as well as the cover of LONELY PLANET BOLIVIA and numerous travel magazines around the world.
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Also in: The Story behind the Photograph
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