My first time using a film camera was while I was living in Panama as a Peace Corps volunteer. I lived in a wooden house at the top of a valley- one that only rose higher and opened into even more valleys. My community, Los Chorros (“the waterfalls”), sat on the western side of the country and had a population of a little over 500 people, most of whom were related. One of the most beautiful aspects of the community was its family-centered layout: on each block there were a handful of homes, and when children grew up, they often built their own houses on family land, expanding the household over generations.
An agricultural town, Los Chorros produced nearly everything it needed- including coffee, one of my favorite parts of living there for almost two years. The community welcomed me warmly, and once I fully immersed myself, I began photographing my host community. To my delight, the images captured the beauty I saw with my own eyes. From that moment on, my love for film photography only deepened.
