“Caras de Perú”
A photo essay about unlikely connections with amazing people while traveling through Peru. March 2026
“El Niño de Maloca Bora”
This photo shows a young boy I encountered while visiting one of the many indigenous communities of the Amazon river. During my time in Iquitos, Peru, the largest city on Earth inaccessible by car (only by boat or plane), we visited the Maloca Bora community. Here we wandered around the village of thatch roofed huts, and found a young boy seemingly following us everywhere as we meandered. He was curious, and so were we, but communication was not possible due to a language barrier, and probably some fear. Photos are a great way to break that barrier, so with some confidence and hand motioning, my friends and I posed him for solo shots, and a photo with my friends Nick and Z. Visiting this tribe, and many other unseen parts of Peru was always the goal when traveling here. To see Peru is not to get to the most beautiful landscape, or to summit the largest peak, but to see how life ticks differently in a place so different than what we know at home. The photos that follow are a visual diary about faces that left us feeling more at home in a place that seems just the opposite.
Taken in Lima during my first few hours in Peru, this photo shows one of the many ajedrecistas (chess players) of Parque Kennedy in the Miraflores district of Lima. As I wandered this beautiful park in the busy area of Lima, I found this group of guys nestled in a corner alley that sit and play competitive chess for hours of every night. They quickly spotted me, and reeled me into a game I couldn’t say no to. Of course they wanted me to put money on the game, and I felt obliged to say yes, I lost it all.
“¿Una piscina o Un calle?”
Another pivotal part of my time in Iquitos was spent in a place unlike no other within the city, the floating shandies of Belén. This neighborhood of the city is seasonally flooded due the tidal rise of the Amazon River, and they built it to embrace the natural changes of the land. For half the year, Belén’s streets become canals that pave the way for water taxis, and also endless entertainment for the children. Here are two kids that were amongst a larger group having an indescribably fun time jumping from nearby windows, and sunken soccer goalposts. The city of water was their playground, and even though the canals could be busy, they never seemed deterred to splash and laugh their way through the winding waterways.
Deep into the canals of Belén existed places you never thought could have existed. We were warmly welcomed into this lovely abuela’s house during our tour of Belén, not to see her, but rather what lied within her home. Her house was filled with remnants of memories lost to time, riddled with dust, but beyond her living room was something more than a memory, a business. I did not expect to find an entire aquarium in her side room, but wow it was definitely something. In this aquarium her son sold hundreds of illegally harvested fish and aquatic species out of small glass tanks. All in the juvenile stage, they sold catfish (Piraíbas, the largest catfish species in South America), piranhas (yes the ones from the movies), snapping turtles, and dozens of other niche Amazonian species. There are few moments from this trip that left me as surprised as this one, but for all the right reasons.
“Un Guia Incomparable”
(Double exposed with another portrait)
This is Julio, our guide in Iquitos, that took us in like one of his own. This photo was taken in his living room on our final evening in the Amazon after his wife filled our stomachs with delicious pollo a la plancha and enough beer to feed an entire village. This man is a testament to friendship and hospitality. What started as another friendly guide interaction ended up being one of our best memories in Peru. He drove with us, walked with us, drank with us, sang with us, and was with us every step of the way during our time in his city. He painted light on our curiosities about a place that to most would seem scary or uncomfortable, and instead created a beautiful experience for us through so many unexpected stops and interactions with people of this amazing community deep in the jungle. I will forever be grateful for the time spent with him in his fascinating part of the world.
Before leaving to visit the indigenous communities at Maloca Bora, our guide drove us to a boat launch at the base of the longest bridge in Peru, pictured below. This was yet another unexpected place that was filled with people and fascinating scenes. The base of this bridge was home to dozens of pop-up bars/restaurants that served delicious drinks and local cuisine. It was also a beach for many families who used the bridge pillar’s bases as a makeshift pier for fishing and swimming. It was here that we swam with the locals, played volleyball with kids on the pier, and chatted with random people telling stories of the normalcy behind spending time here. The people photographed along the way tell stories of fashion culture, and how to pass time deep in the jungle.
“La Tendera”
Pictured here is one of the many shopkeepers (“tenderas”) of Cusco, Peru. This lady in particular stood out to me in the way she involved her family in her store that we visited. Located a step off the main plaza in Cusco, she ran a small clothing and trinket store selling alpaca sweaters and other handmade goods. After our late arrival in Cusco, we were received by some unexpectedly cold weather, so we were on the hunt for alpaca sweaters and gear before we headed into the mountains to visit Machu Picchu. Although late in the night, she kept her lights on late for us. She welcomed us in off the streets, and waited and listened to our wishes as her son ran about grabbing us various sweaters he thought we would like. We definitely took up a large part of her time, but we saw the effort and care she put into her products, and knew we had found the right spot. She impressed us with not only her stores quality, but the respect she instilled in her young boy, while also taking care of her young daughter (pictured on her right shoulder). If you are ever in Cusco, go to her store next to the famous Paddy’s Irish Pub, and tell her I say hi.
See more of my film photography here below.