Peruvian Photography: Spirit of the Sun

Perú. Spirit of the Sun
Walter H. Wust

"Faced with such all-pervading pessimism -writes anthropologist and historian Juan Ossio in the book's prologue-, it was high time someone produced a book that could prove that Peruvians can also have a laugh, that we have a sense of humour plus a healthy dash of creativity and capacity for hard work".

Indeed, not only Wust's book offers a dose of optimism to counterbalance, or at least to momentarily forget, the incessant flow of bad news -specially political and economic- that Peruvians receive almost daily; it is also most helpful in refuting the stereotype -deeply rooted in Lima's ruling class- that Andean natives are by nature gloomy, fatalist, pusillanimous, and incapable of joy.

Through some 150 or so magnificent photographs, the author travels across Peru hoping to demonstrate that sense of humour is an essential ingredient in the lives of all Peruvians: rich and poor, Andean or Amazonian, urban or rural, native or immigrant-descendant.

The book is divided in 5 sections. The first one, Of towns and farms, explores life in rural areas. The following 3 sections are a pictorial -and spiritual- voyage through Peru's 3 natural regions: Coast (The sea and the desert), Mountain (Life in the highlands), and Jungle (With a taste of the jungle). The last section, The language of the hands, is an amazing portrayal of working hands, for the most those of peasants and artisans.

Perú. Spirit of the Sun -entirely in Spanish and English- includes also texts by some renowned Peruvian artists and intellectuals.

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