Colombia’s Upper Amazon River — Leticia to Puerto Nariño and Lake Tarapoto
I’d dreamed of applying my lifelong lessons pursuing Eliot Porter’s Intimate Landscape vision to Colombia’s Upper Amazon River for more than a half century when I finally made the opportunity in the summer 2024.
As chronicled elsewhere, I purchased a collection of Amazon Indian basketry in San Jacinto, Colombia, in 1976 but never achieved my goal of flying to Leticia, the nation’s only port on the Amazon, which I assumed was the basket’s source.
Upon learning my Colombian mother-in-residence during my time there was still alive at 87, I led my family to Barranquilla to see Teresa and then on to San Martin de Amacayacu some 40 miles up the Amazon River from Leticia for those long-coveted intimate Amazon-scapes.
Charles C. Deam Wilderness – Wildflowers
I don’t know exactly how long Eliot Porter’s 1979 coffee table masterpiece Intimate Landscapes has occupied space on my coffee table. But it’s been there every second for however long I’ve owned it.
After cataloging, boxing, and uploading 51,000 of my photographic images for preservation at the IU Archives, I re-read the master’s preface and old-school scrolled through his paper pages. It’s abundantly clear that I’ve viewed the Charles C. Deam Wilderness through Eliot Porter’s finder for more than a half century.
For this project I am stealing Porter’s concept and title and organizing collections of my Charles C. Deam Wilderness and Hoosier National Forest by Intimate Landscapes by subject matter.
