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This web site presents
the work of Esther Parada accompanied by texts taken from her writings.

Peace Corps Experience in Bolivia
1968

"When I lived as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sucre, Bolivia from 1964-1966, I was one of many idealistic young North Americans who prided themselves on their egalitarian ethos and respect for indigenous cultures.

We were diligent in developing our Spanish-speaking skills and we sharply differentiated ourselves from what we saw as the arrogance or insularity of the diplomatic corps.

Yet the images that I created from that experience were shaped less by Bolivian reality, than by the romanticism I brought to it — my fixation on the pathos, mystery and exoticism of the Andes — so different from my own Midwestern background.

I was stunned by the beauty of the landscape and intrigued by the folkloric dress of the Quechua Indians.

In fact, the Indians represented only one aspect of everyday life in Sucre (which had a substantial mestizo and European population).

Yet these indigenous elements completely dominated my photographic portrait of the country."

— Excerpt from an artist's statement by Esther Parada dated 5/29/95. Click for more.

In the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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