2006 Photo Contest, Daily Life, 1st prize
Photographer

Jacob Aue Sobol

28 April, 2005

David (6) searches for seeds in the ground.

The Gomez Brito family are Ixil Mayans living near the village of Nebaj in a remote mountain region, inaccessible to outsiders until modern times. As a result of their isolation the Ixil Mayans long maintained their traditional beliefs and way of dress, but in the late 1970s and 1980s the region was engulfed in a civil war and many indigenous people were displaced. When peace returned in the 1990s the family, like many others, were able to return to their traditional ways. Mother Juanita and father Andrés live with their nine children. They work on small plots of land that have belonged to their family for generations. From sunrise to sunset the family collect fruit and berries, cultivate corn and beans, and tend their animals.

About the photographer

Jacob Aue Sobol

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