LATIN AMERICA
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Most of my work in Latin America was done between 1989 - 2003. It was period when a life long interest in Latin American culture and history fueled my extended travels in the region; That phase gradually eased up in 2003-4 after a trip that took me through many countries in Latin America and ended with me staying in Ecuador for six months.
Some things seem destined to happen. In grade school I pored over accounts of explorations into the Amazon, the Andes, and to the 'ends of...
more »Most of my work in Latin America was done between 1989 - 2003. It was period when a life long interest in Latin American culture and history fueled my extended travels in the region; That phase gradually eased up in 2003-4 after a trip that took me through many countries in Latin America and ended with me staying in Ecuador for six months.
Some things seem destined to happen. In grade school I pored over accounts of explorations into the Amazon, the Andes, and to the 'ends of the earth' in Tierra del Fuego. Stories of these places fascinated me, firing my imagination and led me to my first trip to Brazil in 1976. That's when Latin America got under my skin and stayed. Brazil made a huge impression on me at all levels. During that trip in 1976, I asked myself " how does Brazilian culture, which is gasping under a military dictatorship, seem to feel more free and alive than North America?" The smells on the street, the color, the the religion; everything was more intense, vibrant and alive than my home in Toronto. It was the start of my long relationship with Latin America.
My early influences as a photographer were August Sander, Robert Doisneau, Eugene Smith, Sebastiao Salgado and Manuel Alvarez Bravo to name a but few. Rio Branco's photo essays on Salvador, Brazil also touched me profoundly. Deep gratitude to these and the many other latin america influences that stream through my life and work.
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