Tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon at a life crossroads

Spending time with the different Amazon tribes of Ecuador cannot but expose the photographer (and the viewer) to a truly heart-breaking reality: indigenous people these days have to fight twice as hard as ever before to maintain their identity in a constantly changing world. Not only against the natural progress of life, but also against corporate greed and avarice, against government corruption and, lately, against the truly superficial ways the casual traveller claims to "understand" and "sympathise" with them only to ignore them the moment the boat departs. Shooting these images I was truly saddened to hear how much these people hope that tourism can help them, how much soul, effort and sacrifice they invest in tourism and how, more and more, they see their efforts fall to nothing. These images are not a social or environmental call - they are a human cry for help. They were born with the invaluable assistance and participation of the different tribes in an attempt to reach out to the world and make them see them, not only for who they are, but also for what they stand for - our connection to our past.