Al pie del cóndor (At the Foot of the Condor)

Microscopic photographs of glacier water from Bolivia’s Ventanani reflect on climate vulnerability, linking melting Andean ice to rising seas in the Philippines, and tracing shared cycles of fragility, loss, and possible renewal

Nestled between the peaks of Bolivia’s Cordillera Real, the Ventanani Glacier rests at 5,030 meters above sea level, at the foot of the mighty Condoriri, also known as the Cabeza del cóndor (Head of the Condor).

Using a microscope, I photographed frozen water directly from the glacier’s lagoon, revealing its intricate and delicate structures. Al pie del cóndor is an invitation to witness and preserve the glacier’s current state - one that is particularly sensitive to the consequences of climate change.

In many ways, this photo series echoes a film I wrote ten years ago - Habitat - a story about rising tides and climate refugees in the Philippines and the Pacific. The Philippines is at the frontline of climate change. Being Filipino means carrying an existential urgency about the climate crisis. Ice is melting. Tides are rising. We are becoming more water than land.

Halfway across the world and a decade apart, the intention remains the same: to illuminate the fragility of nature and humanity’s intertwined fate.

In stark contrast to the illusion of linear time, this work is both a documentation of Ventanani and a meditation on the cycles of the natural world from which we are not separate. The glaciers may vanish. But it is also the seas of change that hold the promise of their rebirth.