Jan Sochor
Jan Sochor is a photographer & media designer. He was born in the Czech Republic but changes his base between South America and Europe frequently. In the last five years he has lived and worked in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain and the Czech Republic. He focuses on documentary projects, trying to show and tell about Latin America, its everyday life, social, political and cultural issues. His photographs and stories have appeared in numerous Czech and international magazines, newspapers and websites, including Sunday Times, National Geographic, Le Figaro, NBC Universal, Reuters, Burn Magazine, Foto8, 100Eyes, UNESCO, Boston Review,Focus, Center for Strategic and International Studies. His photographs have received numerous awards.
Tribal Truth is presenting his story and b/w photographs entitled Nakuk Maku: Stuck Between Worlds
NAKUK MAKU: STUCK BETWEEN WORLDS
The Nukak Maku people, a nomadic tribe from Amazonia, were violently driven out of the jungle by the Columba guerilla and paramilitary squad. They live in a refugee camp close to San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia. Now, roughly cut off their original tribal lifestyle, they are stuck between worlds. They learn from the (mainly Christian) aid workers to use clothes, listen to the radio and beg for money, despite not understanding the concepts. Although their digestion suffers, they love to eat sweets, cookies and other western food. Since the time of first contact, half of the Nukak have died of western diseases like the flu. They have hunted out all the animals around the camp and now there is nothing left for them. The Nukak can not return to the jungle, their world has already passed through an irreversible change.
To see the original story click here
Jan Sochor has many more interesting stories involving Latin America.
To see more of his photographs and stories visit his website http://www.jansochor.com/
Tags: amazonia, Boston Review, Burn magazine, Christian aid, Columbia, cultural issues, Czech Republic, deforestation, documentary photography, grassroots, Jan Sochor, jungle, Latin America, Nakuk Maku, National Geographic, nomadic tribe, photo journalist, photographer, politics, poverty, refugee camp, Reuters, san jose del guaviare, social issues, South America, UNESCO
Very impressive work by Jan! I’ve been following his work for a while and he keeps impressing every time he does something new.
Congratulations, Jan, for being featured!