Medellin
Medellin feels as if it belongs to a dream. Forests sitting on top of mountainous terrain seem to go on endlessly. Traveling into the city from its outskirts, the mountains swallow up those who passthrough, with the communes cradled in the bowels of its valley. As you make the descent, the view from up top provokes wonder. How did this large city come to be in an unforgiving terrain? Perseverance, determination and perhaps necessity would be the likely culprits. Unperturbed, the locals make their way pass uphill struggles in cars, on foot, bicycles, or through ingenuity, hitching themselves to back of trucks as it pulls their bicycles up the long trudge. Doing what is needed to enter the Municipality of 16 communes.
I can’t possibly put into words what others have already said about Medellin. Stating its rich history so much more articulately in articles, documentaries, and the many other forms of story telling it has been presented in. All I can hope to do is present the place as I saw it through the lens. The photo-series is from Medellin and other parts of Antioquia, an area encompassing the metropolitan.
El Peñón de Guatapé
It may not be true, but I fantasize as such that many millennia ago, El Peñón de Guatapé crashed in from space. Making impact where Medellin now presides, causing the cavernous valley where close to 4 million people call home. Skipping along the way, creating ripples in the ground that became lake beds enveloping Guatapé and the surrounding area. Eventually finding repose where it is now, watching over the valley. Over the life it cultivated from its initial chaos and destruction.
Guatapé
San Rafael
The Coffee Farmer and His Son
Iván has been farming coffee for fifty years, he is now fifty he says jokingly. He learned to farm from his father who owns a finca down the road. His son will not likely take over the farm and will seek work in the city, where there is more money to be made. There is little to no profit to be made with coffee farming, many farmers don’t make enough to cover the costs of production.
Medellin
