A Backyard View, 1996
From his second floor perspective Marcelo, looks around the neighborhood,
and watches his siblings play in the backyard. When his father Santos
is not repairing electronic equipment (TVs, radios, tape players or
amplifiers) in the room below, he works with a cousin to add another
floor to the home he shares with his wife and three children.
This image provides a moment to understand how Santos and his family
subsist in the city. They use their lot to grow potatoes and medicinal
plants, manage a small herd of sheep, and store hundreds of adobe
brick. Although Santos has lived in El Alto for 15 years, he continues
to grow crops and raise animals because such practices protect his
family from the precariousness of urban life.
