| Patagonia | ...a photographic project in progress |
| In
the Aysén region of Chilean Patagonia, at the tip of South America,
HidroAysén, a consortium of Spanish, Italian, and Chilean capital,
plans to build five hydroelectric dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers
to solve Chile’s current energy crisis. This zone of mountains,
forests, fjords, and rivers, long isolated from the rest of the country
by its distance and topography, is a quasi-mythical place imagined as
the site of confrontation between brave pioneers and the most pristine
wild nature. If approved, HidroAysén’s proposal will radically transform Aysén, not only by flooding some of the region’s oldest settlements and most valuable lands, on the Baker river, as well as some of its least touched landscapes, on the Pascua, but also by vastly expanding its infrastructure; monetarizing its subsistence economy; and, by importing workers to build the dams, doubling the population of the area of construction. |
2009 |
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| The house of Rene Muñoz in Ventisquero Norte. ©Jorge Uzon |
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A
boy plays beside a mural with the Chilean flag during the folkloric
festival of Cerro Castillo. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A boy dressed as a gaucho plays the accordion during the folkloric festival of Cerro Castillo. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A group of backpackers camp in Cerro Castillo. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Arturo Quinto walks on his property on the banks of the Baker River in the Los Ñadis. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Arturo Quinto looks out the window of his house on the banks of the Baker River in the Los Ñadis.©Jorge Uzon |
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| A view of the Ñadis River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Aquilino Olivares cross the Baker River in a rowboat to get to his home near the confluence of the Baker and Nef rivers. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Aquilino Olivares drinks mate in the early morning at his home near the confluence of the Baker and Nef rivers. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Aquilino Olivares speaks on the radio, the only means of long-distance communication available to many residents of Chilean Patagonia. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Aquilino Olivares gallops his horse on his land near the confluence of the Baker and Nef rivers. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A landscape near the Ñadis River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A sign announcing arrival in Cochrane, a small city near the Baker. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A recently butchered pig shares a boat with a dog on the Vargas River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Andrés Casanova steers the Matarangui boat on the Baker River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Andrés Casanova, on board the Matarangui boat, chats with a resident of the Baker River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A resident of the Baker River walks away from his dock after arriving in the Matarangui boat. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Woods on the banks of the Baker River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Andrés Casanova rests on his boat. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Erminio Orellana receives the Matarangui boat at the end of its trip up the Baker River in Ventisquero Norte. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Erminio Orellana draws water from a well in Ventisquero Norte. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| René Muñoz prepares to saddle his horse at his home in Ventisquero Norte. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A man fishes in a lagoon formed by the flooding of the Cochrane river. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| View of the Cochrane River overflowing. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| The El Manzano bridge swamped by the Baker river. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A pickup truck drives past the end of the road in the Colonia Norte sector. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Hernán Guelet drives his boat on Lake Quetru while his son Julio Guelet waits on the shore. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Hernán Guelet, together with his wife Carmen Vidal and his son Julio Guelet, drives home in his boat on Lake Quetru. ©Jorge Uzon |
| 2008 |
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| A child jumps with the Lucas Bridges Mountain in the background near the border with Argentina on Estancia Valle Chacabuco. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A child plays near the border with Argentina on Estancia Valle Chacabuco. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Children protect themselves from the wind produced by a helicopter in Cochrane. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A man drives through the Estancia Valle Chacabuco. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Elvira Reyes prepares to feed two orphaned calves in El Maiten, at two hours on horseback from the end of the road. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Elvira Reyes readies her horse for riding at her home in El Maiten, at two hours on horseback from the end of the road. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Elvira Reyes drinks yerba mate tea at her home in El Maiten, at two hours on horseback from the end of the road. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Porfirio Diaz, a Catholic priest, readies a goat for slaughter at his family home in El Maiten. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Sixto Diaz collects wood to build a fence on his property in El Maiten, at two hours on horseback from the end of the road. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A cow skeleton near Cochrane. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Gabino Diaz looks for his sheep from a mountain in El Maiten. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Gauchos herd cattle in Colonia Norte. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Gauchos herd cattle in the Baker Valley. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A gaucho lets his horse drink from the Cochrane River. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Young men prepare to ride their horses in Caleta Tortel. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A young man leads a horse in Caleta Tortel. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Residents walk along a wooden walkway in Caleta Tortel. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A woman walks along a wooden walkway in Caleta Tortel. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A man looks out over Villa O'Higgins. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Residents dry clothes in Villa O'Higgins. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A passenger of the "Quetru" ferry looks at the moon reflected on the waters of Lake O'Higgins. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A family drinks yerba mate tea in Villa O'Higgins. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A house with roses in Cochrane. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Residents of Cochrane play in a local park. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A man works on his truck stranded on the Southern Highway. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A family drive through the Estancia Valle Chacabuco. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| A man drives through the Southern Higway. ©Jorge Uzon |
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| Arriving in Balmaceda. ©Jorge Uzon |
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