La Rinconada is a remote south Peru village (located in the Andes at 5,000 metres altitude) that has experienced dramatic population growth due to the presence of a goldmine. The gold has introduced an element of chaos into the community. Thousands of shelters are situated across the city. There is no drinkable water or public services. An almost nonexistent police force can’t prevent common crimes, illegal prostitution and drugs consumption. Rubbish and excrement are everywhere and the pollution level is high.
La Rinconada, under gold’s tyranny is a proposal for a photo project that I have just written. Soon or late, I will do a deep research on the social situation of this place. I was already there in 2009 when, in only few days, I discovered that La Rinconada offers many photo possibilities. This project will be driven by a sociological research focus that will contrast two realities in La Rinconada: the human degradation in seeking opportunities in the mine industry and the extraction and beautification process of the gold. But not only this. This project would like also to be a study of a new form of society, quite distant from the current laws.
This project faces many difficulties, not only financial and logistic, but also those based in the human conditions. It is not easy approaching the miners, who mostly work and live illegally in La Rinconada, their women and children who also participate, business men, prostitutes, police forces… All of them prefer being anonymous and not being linked with a community that is far from many human principals.
Let’s see if doors finally open…