In 2008 I had pretty much lost my mortgage business after the housing market collapse. I had about $75,000 just sitting in my checking account so I did what any sane person would do, I moved to Colombia. Initially I was looking for real-estate opportunities but dove deep into photography instead. I found a little flat right in the middle of all the action in Medellin, Colombia. Looking back now I see there was little motivation for me to look for business opportunities when my rent was cheap, life was easy there, beautiful people everywhere and I had a new camera that could take me down an endless stream of adventures.
My first week in Medellin I attended the annual Scott Kelby Walk, an event that happens at the same day in all the big cities around the world. As I was walking with about 30 other photographers this big fat dude yelled out to me, "Hey gringo, what are you doing here? I'm Andy by the way" I said, "I'm a photographer and just moved here."
Little did I know my life was about to dramatically change.
I invented this photographer character; I had always thought the life of a photographer to be romantic. There was something mysterious about photographers and their ability to have access. So I became the photographer without having any knowledge of the technical or the business. Colombia was a perfect training ground for this newly invented person I wanted to become.
After the photography walk Andy and his wife Cata invited me to their apartment for dinner. There was photography equipment all over the place so I was like a kid in a candy store. GEAR! We shot the shit for hours and even though Andy and I have completely different personalities there was a shared passion, photography. Life centered around photography. Andy was from Florida like me but his parents were Colombia, he had just recently moved to Medellin like me.
More on Andy in a moment, first let me explain a little about Medellin and the Coffee Region
Medellin is a big city of about 4 million people, the elevation is about 1,200 meters above sea level making it pretty much perfect weather everyday of the year. Around the city are small pueblos (towns), many of which are in the heart of the coffee region. These small pueblos are like stepping back in time, the coffee farmers hold onto their tradition and have no real interest in the big city life. I'm not sure if it's because they are holding onto their culture, if it's a class thing or what. But I personally found the beauty of life outside the big city of Medellin. Coffee farmers (campesinos) and indigenous people...it's a wide diverse group of people living close to one another. A perfect place for a photographer to practice his craft and dive deep into a rich culture.
Story telling through images:
The Coffee Bodega - you'll find these small bodegas (warehouse) in the small pueblos. This gentleman buys coffee from the campesinos (farmers) and later sells it to coffee buyers. He's a middle man.
The campesino - this guy had just came from high in the mountains with his coffee to sell to the broker. He was kind enough to let me take his portrait. Jerico, Colombia
Saturday and Sunday afternoon the small bars are full of coffee farmers getting drunk off their ass. Their horses wait outside. True cowboys.
The traditional campesino all decked out and his chiva (work truck)
Back to Andy
Andy and I shared a passion for photography and he was somewhat connected in Medellin because he was doing freelance retouching jobs for all the top photographers in Medellin. He literally knew everyone in the business. I was getting small photo jobs just by being the photographer and going out and meeing as many as people as possible everyday. Andy started coming with me to these small shoots and assisting me with lighting. On the weekend we head to the small pueblos and walk around and photograph the lives of people living in the coffee region. It dawned on me that I wanted to document these photo adventures with video. But I wanted to show the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a photographer and inspire other photographers to have their own adventures. Lightenupandshoot was born. You just go to lighten up and get out and have fun with photography.
Andy knew a student who had access to an indigenous family that was living high above the moutains outside Medellin. They are known as the Los Mamos de la Sierra Nevada. The Los Mamos are a medicine men (shamans) and this was one of the most unique experiences of my life. I'll share the video of me and Andy visiting this family.
The post I wrote for LUAS for the_ Los Mamos_ video:
Andy and I had the rare opportunity to take photos of the Mamos de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (note: an indigenous tribe from the mountainous region of Sierra Nevada). The Mamos don't normally allow people to photograph them because of their spiritual beliefs. This particular family fled to the region of Antioquia to escape persecution from the FARC (guerillas). We drove deep into the mountains to meet with the family, and when we arrived the smell of roasted tobacco and burning herbs permeated the crisp air. Andy and I took time to get acquainted before asking if we could photograph them. I even had a chance to play some guitar with the head chief before taking Josca with the family (Josca is powdered tobacco mixed with other plants that when inhaled is supposed to cleans the mind of bad thoughts)
This concludes the first Vlog 01 on my life in the coffee region and the birth of Lightenupandshoot