Since late 2022, I have participated daily with Gallery 365, an engaging and inclusive online photography community, whose diverse, international membership ranges from amateur enthusiasts to established professionals. Gallery 365 has a simple yet profound mission: to encourage creativity through daily prompts. In 2024, a number of the regular participants, commonly referred to as “365ers” were invited to show some of their work in an exhibition at the annual Photo North Festival in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. I am delighted to say that one of my photographs (above) was selected.
Peruvian culture and communities
My contributing photograph is featured in my book Behind the Mask (Detrás de la Máscara), about an ancient ritual and dance called the Huaconada of Mito (La Huaconada de Mito) that has been recognized by UNESCO for its Intangible Cultural Heritage. I made a documentary film (The Mask and More) about the people of Mito and the masked Huacons whose performance around their town square high up in the Andes takes place annually during the first four days of January. My film (called La Máscara y Más in Spanish, with English subtitles) was featured on national television in Peru. A short version was selected for showing at the RATMA International Film Festival, Keighley, Yorkshire in 2021. The full (66 minute) version is available on my YouTube site.
Safeguarding culture requires that young people (like the boy watching the Huacons dancing my exhibition photo) receive education and are encouraged to take their heritage with pride through to the next generation.
PeruZines
Since 2022, I have been publishing my photographic work on culture and sustainability in Peru as a series of short, limited edition and inexpensive photo zines called PeruZine.
The community of Mito was the focus of the fourth edition of PeruZine, available at Betula Books. This article, Making Mito provides some background to this photo essay and how it was made.
Previous editions of PeruZine have featured Manchay, a community that has rapidly grown out of the desert south of Peru’s capital, Lima and the fishermen of Huanchaco on the northern Pacific coast of the country.
About Gallery 365
Gallery 365 participants post their images on Twitter-X, in response to daily word challenges (these are currently Latin words, which encourages deeper and more creative interpretation). There are other ongoing opportunities for you to get involved, such as posting black & white photographs on Saturdays and linking images with song lyrics on Sundays. In a popular monthly theme, 365ers stand on the shoulders of giants as they examine and apply some of the ideas and approaches of master photographers to their own work. You can find out more about Gallery 365 here.
About Photo North
Photo North Festival, curated by Sharon Price and Peter Dench, is in its fifth year in 2024 at The Carriageworks, Leeds (Apr 12-14). It is a public event bringing together professional, enthusiast and student photographer exhibitions along with artist talks and screenings.
NixonScan 
Ashley
Thanks for the latest posting, as well as your participation with Gallery 365. As such, that you are creatively busy. Hope you’ve been out of late with your camper. My Jasper brought Foresty Forest to my attention on the YouTube – looks like he travels / lives year around in his 4×4 van and is supported by subscribers. Different.
Further to your recent topic on place, this book caught my attention (I don’t have a copy nor have I glanced through it before). So far, I only have his Heartlands book.
Marshall
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Meant to say my Jasper friend
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Thanks for the link, Marshall. I had a look at Forestry Forest’s YouTube site. He does some hardcore camping in his van. I am guessing he travels south into the USA for winter. There are copies of “Bridges” and “The American Barn” as well as “Heartland” by David Plowden in the Calgary City library.
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