Eco Photographer An interview of ethically focussed photographer, Alicia Fox in Muse Magazine Australia’s newest magazine for inspiration, self-help and culture, featured an interview about my work as an eco photographer. The article explores my journey from being a teenager driven to fulfil my dreams of travel and photography, to the journey that entailed, learning about what is really important to me and utilising my profession to work towards a better world. As you can read below, photography has taken me around the globe, discovering incredible cultures and learning from some of the most ancient and untouched peoples in the world today. These lessons are priceless and I am extremely grateful for the journey thus far. Being an eco photographer and living a sustainable lifestyle in both my professional and personal life is something extremely important to me, and something that I’ve written about in previous blog posts. My work with indigenous groups and NGOs around the world has contributed to this greatly. Once visiting these places and sitting to talk with the people effected by climate change, corporate greed, environmental destruction and so on, it’s impossible to turn a blind eye and un-care. Everyone can make […] Read More
Travel is like an intensified version of normal life. We take ourselves out of our comfort zone to situations where the ups are higher and the downs take us deeper than we have ever been. This is why we often return from travelling feeling like a new person: so much more experienced, wiser and even enlightened. After a year or so travelling through South America, I’d been confronted by many lows (and many more highs, thankfully). One thing that irritated me was how long things took. I’m pretty chilled out and enjoy taking my time, but on Latin American time things can be excruciatingly slow. The border crossing from Colombia to Panama is one example of this. The whole process of travelling by boat from port towns to port towns took days. I understand that authorities in this Darien Gap region are wise to watch their ports for drug smugglers, but anyone who has spoken to locals knows that the authorities are aware of the traffickers and allow certain offenders to slip through the cracks. On arriving to Panama, at the tiny village of Puerto Obaldia, the immigration officer sitting inside his sweltering hot cement block informed us […] Read More
Working as an NGO photographer and documenting the work of not-for-profit organisations that are improving people’s lives, inspires me endlessly. More than anything, it brings a sense of hope. I have witnessed so many seemingly hopeless situations turned upside down, resulting in thriving human beings and optimistic communities, all thanks to the committed work of everyday people . These people show me that any one of us can be a hero, a lifesaver, even an angel. I’d like to share with you an excerpt from a book I am writing, about my three year journey through Latin America. This passage describes an experience I had in Nicaragua, while working with the amazing grass roots organisation, Empowerment International. The organisation was formed by an extraordinary North American woman Kathy, who couldn’t walk away from a community in need, so she moved to Nicaragua to work day and night to change their situation. I volunteered with Empowerment, teaching photography classes to the children and creating a photo documentary of their projects. On my first day volunteering with Empowerment, Anielka led me into the barrio of Villa de Esperanza, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Granada. Many of the families there were surviving […] Read More
I was looking for a place to stop and do a bit of work and I wanted to make it a kind of retreat, to get my creative juices flowing. Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is the perfect place for a photography and writing retreat. I spent time at some beautiful hotels in Panajachel, San Pedro and San Macos – three different villages, all tranquil in their own way. I was doing work for hotels while also working on my own projects. Here are a couple of shots from one beautiful sunrise I spent in San Pedro la Laguna. Lake Atitlan has risen dramatically this year and buildings, shelters and lakeside recreational areas such as the one above have become submerged. Some of the local Mayans think the rising water is related to The 2012 Shift, some just blame the rain. These are the traditional fishing boats used by Mayan fishermen each morning on Lake Atitlan. They spear the fish with reeds then take their catch home or sell them in their villages. It’s beautiful to watch and a wonderful example of slow, simple living. To see more of my travel photography, check out my website www.AliciaFoxPhotography.com Read More
Comalapa, Guatemala “You have to ask before you take a photo of anyone here. A Japanese woman didn’t ask and she got stoned to death.” That was my introduction to Comalapa, a small town, unmarked on the Guatemalan tourist map. I usually ask before I take someones photo, but sometimes that ruins the moment and I (respectfully) want to get a shot before they are aware that I even exist. After the above advice though, I got the feeling that the locals here aren’t really into being the subjects of documentary photography, so I’m going to ask everybodies permission before I take photos of them. This morning my friend Loren needed to do some washing and asked me if I wanted to go to the public laundry with him. A lot of people around here don’t have the water or facilities to wash clothes in their own home so the women come together and wash communally. It’s such a wonderful and unique cultural experience and I’d been attracted to Guatemala’s outdoor laundries since I first saw them. ……… I got chatting to this beautiful lady, Chejina (above), while Loren was washing his clothes. Chejina told me she goes there most […] Read More
Cartagena is a beautiful, colonial town in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. We arrived at night to the sounds of Cuban-infused jazz drifting through the warm, heavy air. There were kids playing football in the street, vendors selling maize bread and friendly men offering us water, marijuana, cocaine… Inside the walls sits an elegant city centre, where we wandered the quiet streets and took in the Cartagena in all her beauty. Beautiful negra women sell fruit in the traditional dress of the area. The climate makes for a slow lifestyle with a lot of sitting around and sleeping in the shade of the city streets or gardens. One of the entrances to the walled city, this archway is about 5 metres thick. The traditional mixed with the modern. You can buy anything from local handicrafts from the artisanas on the footpath, to the latest fashions in air conditioned boutiques. Read More
