Richard Bown
I am a keen amateur photographer and member of Harrogate Photographic Society as well as Gamma. I am fully digital, always photographing in colour, though I convert to B&W if that conveys better what I want to show. I try to take photos that the viewer can relate to and that create an emotional or rational response such as wonder, sadness, a feeling of beauty or a sense of time and place, which is often best achieved through a themed set, such as this gallery.
They were taken in the towns and villages of Western Honduras, a poor country by Western standards. However there is no poverty of spirit in the region we visited: people were hospitable, friendly and getting on with their lives. The objective of the photos is to convey an impression of the street life of the region.
Like most developing countries there are kids everywhere, both working and playing. The campesinos (peasant farmers) are wholly or largely indigenous Lencan and there have been 2 obvious outside influences on their lives. These are Spanish colonialism and, more recently, Western consumerism, of which obvious examples are fizzy drinks and mobile phones (better reception than North Yorks!). They seem strange in a village where many people come down from the hills on horseback on roads that are impassable to virtually all vehicles.
With thanks to the Barcenas Cruz family with whom we stayed and who took us around the region, including the Ruta Lenca. Their hospitality made these photographs possible.
They were taken in the towns and villages of Western Honduras, a poor country by Western standards. However there is no poverty of spirit in the region we visited: people were hospitable, friendly and getting on with their lives. The objective of the photos is to convey an impression of the street life of the region.
Like most developing countries there are kids everywhere, both working and playing. The campesinos (peasant farmers) are wholly or largely indigenous Lencan and there have been 2 obvious outside influences on their lives. These are Spanish colonialism and, more recently, Western consumerism, of which obvious examples are fizzy drinks and mobile phones (better reception than North Yorks!). They seem strange in a village where many people come down from the hills on horseback on roads that are impassable to virtually all vehicles.
With thanks to the Barcenas Cruz family with whom we stayed and who took us around the region, including the Ruta Lenca. Their hospitality made these photographs possible.