The cumbias we heard up there

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Self-portrait facing the unknown, the map as a symbol of the identity and the journey. © Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project © Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project View all images ↓
View all images ↓

I met Deysi in September. I was on route for a commission and had to portray 50 women from indigenous origins in a little over a month. This search thrilled me, perhaps because most of the time I feel like I'm looking for something, but I don't know what it is. This project was going to be a break from myself.

That day I drove in my small rental car for hours lost in the highlands. I felt deep happiness, then anxiety, fear, optimism, and resignation. I went through all the mental states until it began to get dark, and I was overcome with terror: I had been lost for so long in a maze of paths that it was impossible to even think of going back. Finding Deysi became my only option. Tired and trying not to despair, I retraced my steps once more, towards the last detour I had taken. In the distance, almost imperceptible on a hill, I saw a white dot that looked like a jeep to me. The white dot was getting closer as I approached it. We met in a dry riverbed. "Deysi!" We hugged each other for several minutes, on the verge of tears, and I told her "I'm Fernanda, I've been looking for you for a long time."

This ongoing project is an inner journey through each other. It is an open question: How to undertake the search for things that, in a certain way, have to do with displacing the frontiers of one's own being into unknown territories, with becoming another person?

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Self-portrait facing the unknown, the map as a symbol of the identity and the journey.
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Self-portrait facing the unknown, the map as a symbol of the identity and the journey.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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this is one of the many salt flat that are spread around the plateau of the Andes in the Tarapacá Region, 3500 mt high from sea level. I got lost for around 8 hours in this vast area, and finding this spots was like arriving to a mental oasis of beauty and calmness.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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When i found this abandoned spot i felt like it was the door to something unknown. It was a soccer field over 4000 mt from the sea level, probably for the workers of the mines around the area.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - when sunset came, a revelation came along
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when sunset came, a revelation came along

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - This is a symbol of the Latin American continent and the struggle that all the indigenous people go trough.
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This is a symbol of the Latin American continent and the struggle that all the indigenous people go trough.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Deysi is an aymaran 36 years old woman. She lives between Alto Hospicio, a middle-low class neighbourhood outside Iquique, and Chiclla, an abandoned community 5000 meters above sea level, near the border with Bolivia and in a mining zone, where she raises her animals. She is the symbol of the new indigenous of Chile: an entrepreneur, tattooed, integrated young woman who likes cumbia and still keeps and values the traditions of her aymara culture.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - The spirits look after Deysi when she is up in Chiclla. She prays for her ancester to take care of her heard and family.
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The spirits look after Deysi when she is up in Chiclla. She prays for her ancester to take care of her heard and family.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Chiclla is filled with this monuments, recycled things that Deysi's brings up for her lifestock.
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Chiclla is filled with this monuments, recycled things that Deysi's brings up for her lifestock.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Aymaran people believe in jesus, god and the virgin mary. Deysi preys to San Lorenzo to take care of her dad, who's been away for a long time. We listen to cumbias and reggeton while working the field, and at night time making jokes by the fire

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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water is essential in desolated places. The problem here is that at nightime the temperature drops to -15°c and freezes the little water supply Chiclla has. This picture is a symbol of diving into this place, into this moment and into this life.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Deysi in her home, working the fields.
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Deysi in her home, working the fields.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Llamitos and alpacas are used to this solitary places, they can survive the extreme temperatures and the lack ok water. They provide their meat and fur, and Deysi looks after them with lovely words and gentle touch.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - This clock decorates our living room, stopped at 6 o'clock.
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This clock decorates our living room, stopped at 6 o'clock.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Deysi's hair is deep black. She uses it loose or in braids when she's working.
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Deysi's hair is deep black. She uses it loose or in braids when she's working.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Alapca's and llamo's wool is know for its quality and softness. Deysi hasn't been able to cut the wool off for over a year. Under the rough edges, you find warmth and softness.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Everything that grows in this high places must be adapted to the extreme conditions of weather and lack of oxygen. The yareta is a hermaphrodite plant that self-pollinates thanks to the activity of insects, and it's used by aymaran people to treat diabetes.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Simón is a bad behaved cabrito who almost broke Deysi's back on one of the trips. We have to tie him up to clean the barnyard... if we don't pay attention, he runs and hits us with his horns. It's also a symbol of the devil, but deep inside he's a sweet animal.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Aymaran believe in 4 forces that control the harmony of the planet: earth, air, fire and water. They pay attention to his signals.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - At sunset, we sit down by the fire, drink beer and tell stories.
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At sunset, we sit down by the fire, drink beer and tell stories.

© Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio - Image from the The cumbias we heard up there photography project
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Deysi is the flame in this adverse environment. We've been friends for little under a year and she has taught me about herself, about life signals, and a little about myself as well.