2009 - A picture each day

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Eight - AHM Portrait - Celine

For Amerindian Heritage Month I set up a makeshift photo studio in the half-built new community centre in Aishalton. The plan was to take portraits of Aishalton villagers wearing their traditional dress. The first person to come was Celine, along with her husband Kid and their two children Konainmo and Aichauzo. She didn't come for her picture - she just came to watch whilst I photographed Kid and the kids. After I'd taken those pictures I asked Celine if she'd step in front of the camera. She looked a bit shy, looked down, and then looked up with a beautiful smile. Perfect!

For the first two weeks of next month I will be unable to load daily photos - so the blog will run an intermission showing my AHM portraits.

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Seven - Great Balls of Fire

A variation on lightning and stars. This time we have lightning, stars, moon, and also the light from a small cooking fire lighting up the lower branches of the tree in the foreground. I took a few versions of this, in portrait layout, showing more of the foreground, but I think this frames the lightning better. The alternatives are here in the runner up folder on Picasa (and I've also uploaded a few older ones too!).

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Six - Marudi Evenings

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Five - Fetching Water

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Four - Marudi Mining Camp

With the cut lawns (to keep the snakes away) and the view of Bat Mountain in the distance, this could be some holiday camp in the wild outback... But once the rainy season is finished, it will be full of miners risking their lives in backbreaking work to find small pieces of gold.

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Three - A man called Tiger

Tiger lives in a small shack on a hillside in the middle of the mining area. He doesn't seem to have much, but he boasts that the springwater he keeps in a half burried box is as cool and refreshing as anything from a fridge. He looks fit and healthy, and when I wander past he invites me in for a cool drink, a fresh banana, and a game of chess on his homemade board and selection of pieces from a few different chess sets. I relax with him in the shade and find he's right. This is a level of luxury that you couldn't find in London, Paris or New York!

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Two - Mining Scar

What was once a small quiet creek running through shaded forest is now a great red scar in the landscape. This enormous hole has been dug, pretty much by hand, in the search for gold. So much work, effort, and danger, along with some death and destruction. But the mines surprised me. The occasional scar in a hillside was offset by the beautiful scenery. The rough, hardworking miners were kind and welcoming. This place wasn't the hell on earth I was expecting, and the destruction was much less than that caused by any motorway passing through the countryside.

Day Four Hundred and Eighty One - Hunters

OK - I'll admit it sounds crazy, but here is the story! I was on the rough trail to the Marudi gold mines. In the middle of the rainforest, many miles from anywhere. The trail was wet, muddy and awful. I got so stuck on my motorbike that I couldn't go anywhere. The bike was stuck upright! I dug clay out from the wheels but still couldn't lift the bike out - either the front wheel or the back wheel. I had a good rest, ate and drank and tried again, but I was stuck. Then, like a dream, these Amerindian hunters stepped out of the forest, lifted my bike out, and sent me on my way. I'm glad I took a photo. It wasn't just a dream!

Day Four Hundred and Eighty - Three Girls

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Nine - Group Meal

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Eight - Preparing for Heritage Month

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Seven - Going Home

After the festival of games and activities, dances and parties, it's time to head off over the savannah on the long trek home. At least we've had no rain all week and the trails are starting to dry out.

PS - There's a hidden extra in this photo - I didn't notice it until I got it onto my computer - but it made me laugh! Prize for the first person to spot it!

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Six - End of Games

The games ended with atraditional dance, which slowly morphed into a Brazillian Forrah dance session! It was a great way to finish with everybody dancing in front of the stage to the Wapishan musicians performing their version of Brazilian dance music!

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Five - Miss Amerindian 2010

Key feature of the August Games is the selection of Miss Amerindian for the year. No swim costume parade, but there is a traditional dress parade, speech in Wapishan, traditional song or performance, a difficult question to answer, and finally, the ball gowns!

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Four - Fire

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Three - Toshao Gomes

Amerindian Chief - Amerindian Head-dress - Amerindian Grass Skirt - Amerindian Necklace - Carib Beer!!!

Day Four Hundred and Seventy Two - Performance

Day Four Hundred and Seventy One - Games

Day Four Hundred and Seventy - Aishalton Culture Group

Each evening at the games there is a performance party. This year most of the acts were traditional wapishan dances.

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Nine - Watching the Games

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Eight - Opening the Games

The August Games 2010 start in Aishalton with a traditional show involving local songs and dancers. Backstage preparations combine applying face paint with looking after children.

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Seven - Saying Goodbye....

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Six - Fresh Meat

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Five - Cooking

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Four - Traditional Look

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Three - Abstract!

Day Four Hundred and Sixty Two - Eustace

I was playing with flash, trying to set up a little indoor studio for Amerindian Heritage month in September. Eustace Martin came round to give Sarah a woven basket. Eustace is Aishalton's major competitor in the traditional activities of the August Games. He will be representing Aishalton in activities such are fire starting, Ite Tree Climbing, speed weaving, rope making, and arrow making.

Day Four Hundred and Sixty One - Flower

It's been a busy week! Should be back to some more interesting photos next week when the Deep South Games start!

Day Four Hundred and Sixty - Rainstorm Pontoon

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Nine - Bedford in Mud

Stuck on the open savannah without a tree in sight to winch off. We passed this truck and stopped to help. After a lot of digging under the wheels of the jacked up Bedford we tied our hi-lux to another hi-lux and connected them to the Bedford winch to try and help it out. The Bedford did a great job of dragging the two jeeps backwards! Next we burried a big log in the sand (they called this 'a dead man', and the hole was a perfect shallow grave!) and winched from the Bedford, but the log dragged out. Finally another grave was dug, the log burried again, rocks put on top of it, planks on top of the log, and then a Hi-Lux was parked on the planks.

After 3 hours of jacking, digging and placing rocks the Bedford finally came out...

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Eight - Mr Parks, the mechanic

No trip to Lethem is complete without a visit to Parks, to get some vehicle work done!

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Seven - The Three Horsemen of the Savannah

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Six - Stagebuilding

I should have called this 'With a little help from my friends'! The cowboy hat was pulled down low, hiding most of the face. I was just framing and wondering whether I'd be able to fill the shadows with flash when suddenly a hand appeared and lifted off the hat! Nice to have a little bit of help sometimes!

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Five - Land Rover

An alternative to the ox carts!

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Four - Taking a break

Lots of hard work in the village, preparing for the Deep South Games, which this year will be held in Aishalton.

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Three - Village Work

Day Four Hundred and Fifty Two - Ox Cart and Creek

Finally I manage to track down an ox cart crossing a creek in good light - with time to fill the shadows with some flash! Deeper water would have been the icing on the cake!

Day Four Hundred and Fifty One - Watching the Performance

Day Four Hundred and Fifty - Flowing Grass

Day Four Hundred and Forty Nine - Ite Creek

Day Four Hundred and Forty Eight - Letters Home

Father Britt-Compton, at 91 years old is still going stong in Aishalton. As is his typewriter!

Day Four Hundred and Forty Seven - Mango Trees

Day Four Hundred and Forty Six - Cassava Processing

The cassava root vegetable contains cyanide and must be processed before it can be eaten. First it is peeled, then ground or grated. Then the mush is put into a woven 'sock' called a matapi. The matapi is hung up and pressure applied by someone sitting on a branch which passes through the bottom loop of the matepi. This squeezes all the water, and the cyanide, out of the cassava. It can then be shaped and fried in an enormous pan to make cassava bread or farine. Made well it's actually very good!

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