I was drawn to Paucartambo between 2016 and 2018 by the intensity of its communal rituals and the layered meanings they carry. Moving through the town, I observed how color, movement, and collective presence shape the experience of place. Alongside broader scenes, I focused on details and portraits, hands, costumes, expressions, and gazes; allowing a closer encounter with the people who animate these practices. The name Paucartambo, paucar meaning “colorful” and tambo meaning “resting place”, became a guiding framework, reflected in these intimate moments as much as in the shared spaces. Making this series was a way of encountering a place connected to my Andean lineage, not through memory, but through presence. Rather than documenting from a distance, I sought to listen, observe, and allow ritual to shape my understanding of place and belonging. These photographs reflect an exploration of resonance, how ritual inhabits the body, the landscape, and the spaces where people gather, move, and momentarily become part of something larger than themselves.
