Post Oil Civilization: In Search of a Life in Haarmony
This series of photographs follows up the short documentary film, which I have also submitted to the present competition, 'The Shaman's Oil', that tells the struggle of the Cofan people through their eyes. These photographs show the perspective of the researcher. The photographs were taken in different Amazonian indigenous communities, Shipibo- Konibo, Kichwa and Cofan, during my seven months of fieldwork in Ecuador and Peru as part of my doctoral thesis. All these communities have been affected by the oil industry but they are in different stages of their struggle against the oil activity in their territory, and they have chosen distinctive ways of relating with the industry.

In many cases the only way to reach these remote communities was by a small two-seater aircraft(seen in the first photograph), probably fuelled by crude from the Amazon subsoil, and using the landing strips built and used by the American evangelical missionaries in the 1970s and later on by the oil companies. As if zooming in the objective of my camera, the next photographs take the viewer into the legacy of oil exploitation in the Amazon rainforest during the last 30 years, which has left open flares, oil spills and destruction in Its way. Women are the main transmitters of cultural traditions, such as the laborious preparation of the traditional drink 'chicha', made of 'yuca' plant, which can only be grown and prepared by women as they have the wisdom to connect with mother earth. Women have also been severely impacted by the industry, which has contributed to increased prostitution among indigenous women in oil production areas. Each year more than 32,000 barrels are spilt into the river systems. This means that every 2 -3 years a spill as big as the Exxon Valdez takes place in the Amazon. This situation has drastically reduced fish, game and traditional agriculture and obliged indigenous people to import food from local markets, as the photograph 'the arrival of the chickens' shows. This dependence tends to undermine their food sovereignty, and this, together with fast incorporation into the market economy, lack of jobs and increased poverty, has led to lack of social cohesion.

As if all this destruction had never occurred, I witnessed various rounds of consultation processes in which the State and the Oil Industry introduce indigenous communities to a new era of development called 'high-tech oil production', where contamination is reduced to a minimum and social impacts are mitigated by the agreements reached in the Corporate Responsibility Programmes. The photograph 'puppet dancing' was taken during the annual celebration of the Shipibo community of Canaan, which was financed by the Texan company Maple Gas. In the photograph, the company men, the indigenous people, and me dance together in a dance of power relationships where the puppeteer and the puppets can be easily interchanged. Everything is company-branded, from the company caps distributed to all the community members to the indigenous craft, specially produced for the day, with the company maple leaf logo. In the 'PR meal' picture the beauty queen is looking in another direction, inviting us to look further as if the picture should not be seen in isolation. In order to survive as a culture, their territory is the most precious thing for an indigenous group. Therefore, the presence and the impacts of the oil industry have triggered resistance, which operates within a network of allies at both local and global level. The younger generation has had an important role in the struggle, becoming aware of the environmental and political relevance of their natural resources from a very early age. This is shown in the peaceful stand of the young boy protecting the border of his territory and carrying a message on his torso that reads 'I want to live healthy and strong'. Finally, young people of the Cofan communities commemorate the closing of an oil well in their territory.