Inti Raymi, Festival Of The Sun

The photos were not planned. When I arrived in Samaipata that day, I didn't even know that the festival was taking place. I was already in bed in a cheap hostel when I was asked if I wanted to go to the "Fiesta del Sol" together with four other people I didn't know before. On June 21, 2022, I drove 20 minutes up a mountain road in the middle of the night to celebrate Inti Raymi. The festival was magical. It is the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere and also the Aymara New Year. I spend all night with people from all over the world until we hiked up a small hill at six o'clock in the morning and celebrated the sunrise together. That night, which was not planned, encouraged me to show myself as a photographer. I had already decided that I would not enter any of my photos in this year's contest. None were good enough from my perspective. Because of the results, I changed my decision, one day before deadline. I do not strive for maximum sharpness, perfect exposure or an image composition according to certain rules anymore. I want to see the beauty, take new perspectives and deeply dive in. The photos are about love, lightness, color, light and shadow. About movement and the energy of the street. It represents everything I am about in photography. Everything I want to show through my lens. No photo is staged, edited or cropped. With my small camera (35 mm fixed focal length, no equipment), I mingled with the people.