Listening through the Eyes

Session 85 summary

TDF Session 85 was a bilingual TDF Session, a step in removing language barriers and connecting with different places rich in tribal/indigenous culture. The translator for this Session was Sakshi Lambhate, a postgraduate in Spanish language from JNU.

Jero Gonzales is from Cusco, Peru, he started photography 10 years ago. Since his parents and grandparents are Quechua speakers, so Jero’s first language is quechua, later he had his education in Spanish. He chose photography as a tool to express the quechua community that he is born in and spread the word around the world.

His Project Rikch’ay means image or similarity or to awaken (from a sleep) in quechua language (s.Imagen//s. Semejanza//v. Despertar). Jero’s maternal grandmother used to tell him stories related to nature and the images that were created in his mind due to those stories are deeply related to this work. He has used the natural images that are there of nature and through these images he has connected some quechua words. Quechua is a language which has many onomatopoeic connotations like the water when it flows makes the sound Phullllll, when fire is burning the wish wish sound comes, breaking branches make qha ph sound, p’un n n n is the sound of throwing a rock or pebble on the ground, chha llaq q q qis the sound of the tides hitting the shore at 3 am in the morning, qha shshis the sound of something breaking, and ch’aq ch’aqis the sound of typing on keyboards which everyone got familiar with during the pandemic. Jero has tried to use these words with the images to create a visual of the sounds that are created by those images which would make people imagine more while looking at those images.

His next project is Situm Novumwhere Jero took pictures of some places which also has quechua connotations. In that they name the places depending on the topography of that place, the origin of the place or how the place emerged is the basis of the place’s name. The name of the place Qoyllur(urmana)comes from the meaning of qoyllur=stars and urmana=to fall, so it is a place ‘where the stars fall’. So, it is a place where a star/meteor fell, created a crate which now has become a lake. The name Piki(llaqta) means the village of insects, it is a place which is known to have created a lot of architectures in the pasts and many arts like ceramics and other things have been created here which was considered very urban during that time. So, when the archaeological projects were done there but the things written in their mythologies about the place were not found so it became a myth for the scientists and archaeologists and named the place insect village where nothing can be found. Another place he photographed was Pacha(tusan), the name means ‘the earth which was sustained’ i.e. it shows how sustainable the earth is and how the culture is being sustained through it and it is a respect which everyone wants to give to the earth which has created all, to the natural space that is there in Cusco in Peru. Apu is a mountain deity which they revere and the six pictures which Jero has taken of it are from different angles and Jero tried to connect them in a unique manner which is amazing. The meaning of the picture Kuchuy(rumi) comes from kuchuy=cutting and rumi=stones. The stories that Jero’s grandparents told were about Incas who were very powerful tribes over there, indigenous people in Peru used to have a liquid which they used to cut those rocks in shapes which are magnificent and they didn’t use stone shaping tools like hammers. Jero wants to tell the story of this place which is known for its perfect shaped rocks through his images.

His next project is Varayoc. Before this project Jero would use many images to express nature and other things but after this project he introduced ethnography in his projects. The lines;

“Varayoc no es solo un bastόn de mando
Varayoc es un sίmbolo
Varayoc es una promesa
Varayoc es un camino”,

Talk about Varayoc who is an authority, a person who controls the community there and holds a respected position and he has the duty to socialise people from the community and make them aware of the culture and other things. He is also the person who guides them and so all the decision making is done by him and therefore there is a huge respect for this person as he controls all the functioning of the community and it is done very smoothly and with respect and Jero’s picture shows that and also the power, the way he dresses and the style of dressing etc.

The next project he did was Puriq Masiywhich means ‘the companion of the path/ whoever you find in the path’. He has used analog camera for the pictures in this project. There was a festival of senor de Qoyllur Rit’i, there were a lot of tents and Jero tried to capture those as the atmosphere of the festival how things are done. Another picture which he took was of Ukuku, he is the person who controls all the activities that are being done over there, and hence, he holds the power to control the festivities. In this festival it is not only the work of dancers and the authority which is there but there are also people who cook food for other people. Jero also took a picture of a saint known as chunchacha who represents the forests of Peru. Another picture which he took was of the people cooking food together for feeding everyone who came to the festival. He took a picture of a person who works in a mine and he went to that festival to pray for some miracle to happen in his life and change his state of life which shows the faith people have on the deities that are there. He also took a picture of a magician and a dancer resting on a rock and of the woman who was helping managing all the cooking and of the person who checks and controls the process taking place in the festival, etc. all the pictures of the festival were taken from analogue camera as well as some digital ones.

Another project which Jero shares is called N̴awpaq. Jero’s grandparents have learned that ‘the past is the main teacher, mentor of the future’. The picture Jero has taken is of the cocaine leaves, in Quechua cocaine is very revered and they are offered to the gods and a major part of prayer rituals. So it should not be taken in the negative connotation, they think that the leaves of cocaine guide them into the future. Tusuy means ‘to dance’ and Jero as a musician himself used to participate during college days in orchestras, so when he saw the dances in the festivals he wanted to create a picture which was moving, which showed the movements, the happiness people had during the dancing. He wanted to represent those things in his photos and he tried a lot and came up with pictures which showed what the rituals are during the festival and how the people are so happy and enthusiastic during the dance and those pictures sow how the dances takes place and the moments during the dance they perform.

Rimanakuy means ‘to come back and talk together/ to find our voices’. After 200 years of independence, Peru was still divided into two parts on the basis of ideas and cultures, so this project focuses on how to reconcile and come back and talk to each other, find a middle ground and stay together. The rocks in the picture, Jero found inspiration in those rocks and how those rocks are together similarly the people can come together and talk with each other. The rocks are allegorical, people would come and go in this world but those rocks would stay so people should reconcile and hold conversations with each other and by raising our voices we can express our needs and clear the misunderstandings that are there.