Notes:
I took this photo in Bolivia in 1996. The day before, I had tried taking pictures of the little girls playing with some friends behind one of the buildings where I worked. Unfortunately, they weren’t used to me or the camera, so it didn’t work very well.
Word travels quickly in a little village. The next day, I received a visit from a boy asking me to take a picture of him with his best friend. Within the hour, I had a second visit from these children, asking for a family photo in front of their house.
They chose the spot, arranged themselves, and told me when they were ready. This picture was the result. When I returned to La Paz on my way home, I made lots of copies of this photo and others and sent them to my co-workers to distribute. Hopefully, they were well received.
Over the years, I’ve rarely shown these pictures to anyone, partly because I’m afraid of people’s reactions but mostly because I still feel protective of the children.
Nonetheless, this photo says a lot about care, delicacy, tact, and cooperation. In some form or another, I would like to address this in my artist statement.