Out of the Past

Back in 1979 the Bureau Chief hauled a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 camera to Ecuador and took a lot of photos. Since it is much easier to store and view photos once they are digital, I recently sent off a small batch of slides and negatives to ScanCafe to see what kind of job they did. They did an excellent job but the tradeoff was that it took two and a half months. Finally the scans are back and will be posted periodically.

At one point the Bureau Chief and some Europeans flew in a small plane out to a tiny village in the jungle. The village was built around a postage stamp sized landing strip. The local people were members of the Shuar tribe who were sometimes incorrectly called the Jivaro. They were famous for making shrunken heads from their hereditary enemies but that epoch was over. Their traditional way of life had been disrupted by access to the modern world through the airplane. There was a professional photographer in our group, a very nice guy, and the locals had put on their best and lined up for photos shortly after we landed. I took advantage of the set up.

The media.

The people.

Old style with modern elements.

Everyday look.

This girl is not wearing a fur hat. It's her pet capuchin monkey although hard to make out.

The picture files have been compressed for the web. The originals look better.