AJMiles Blog

Life Through the Lens

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Beginning a series in Bristol.

www.amilesphoto.com

Local personalities, sights, and street art.

A brief glimpse into Stokes Croft

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Young Guatemalan girls shelter from torrential rain in Comitancillo province. 

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Suspicion

Yangon, Myanmar

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Yangon, Myanmar

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Cemetery in the Guatemalan province of Comitancillo.

Emerging from a bloody three decade civil war, it’s not surprising that Guatemalans hold differing attitudes towards death. Rather than housing their dead in rows of somber monochrome, tombs are decorated with lively colours and iconography.

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Bagan, Myanmar.

Reprocessing some shots from December last year, rediscovering some files that had been overlooked as I cleared my hard drive of RAW files (I usually do this every six months or so). All taken from an afternoon roaming the ruins in Bagan, Myanmar.

www.amilesphoto.com

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Guatemalan family, Santiago Atitlán.

On the eve of the Guatemalan elections, frustration, not hope, hangs in the air of Santiago Atitlán. A bloody recent history and lingering wounds from the lengthy civil war leave an imprint upon the consciousness and social state of citizens.

Struggling to care for their disabled son, this elderly Maya couple are fortunate enough to receive support from Panajachel-based NGO Sharing The Dream.

www.amilesphoto.com

www.sharingthedream.org

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Rosario, a sponsored elder who receives weekly meals and medical care in El Centro de Ancianos, Santiago de Atitlán.

Rosario was widowed during the Guatemalan civil war; her husband left to work in the mountains and never returned. During this period of high, arbitrary violence, it was common for Maya workers to be murdered and left in their unmarked graves.

Today, Rosario gets by on the simple pleasures, when they come into her life.

Interested in helping an elder like Rosario? Visit

www.sharingthedream.org

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Despite a lifetime of hurt, the memory of a brutally violent civil war, and the cage of poverty, the spark hasn’t been extinguished.

For more information on Elders in the Lake Atitlan area, visit www.sharingthedream.org

https://www.facebook.com/SharingTheDreamInGuatemala

Instagram - Sharingthedream

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Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

A view from the dock in Panajachel, Guatemala. 

For information on how to help local communities around the lake, visit

www.sharingthedream.org

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David, Santiago Atitlan.

An incredibly enthusiastic chauffer. David communicates with the assistance of two hearing aids he bought from Guatemala City. Whether he began losing his hearing organically, or from the blast of his tuk-tuk engine, he is able to switch them off for at least some relief.

www.sharingthedream.org

For more info on how to get involved with the colourful people of Lago Atitlán.

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A Guatemalan elder in Sharing the Dream’s Centro de Ancianos, Santiago Atitlán.

Sharing the Dream provides community, nutritious food, healthcare, and vitamins to local elders lacking a support network. Most have lost family members during the civil war, and find themselves ostracised by an already impoverished local community.

www.sharingthedream.org

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A portrait of one of the fantastic sponsored students from Chichicastenango, Guatemala. 

Sharing the Dream gives opportunities to promising students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to pursue their education. Many are born into families that face financial difficulty, or have lost parents before they reach adolescence.

Find out more at

www.sharingthedream.org

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Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Currently working for a fantastic and exciting NGO project. Check it out

www.sharingthedream.org

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Hitching a Ride

Santiago de Atitlan, Guatemala

A group of Maya women jump aboard a pick up for cheap, quick transport between villages. 

www.sharingthedream.org

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Sharing the Dream in Guatemala

I’ll be spending this summer involved with a really interesting project in Guatemala, a beautiful country filled with fascinating people.

The NGO I’m working with does incredible work around Lake Atitlan, having funded schools, a centre for neglected elders, and scholarship students attempting to pursue their dream.

The NGO also allows locals to sell their sustainable, fair-trade products, and I really recommend you check out their page and online store

http://www.sharingthedream.org

Guatemala is a travel favourite of mine, after having spend some time here in late 2012. Coming back with some work and a photography project in mind is really rewarding and there will be lots of great material coming.

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A walk through Granada.

A few pictures from an afternoon in Granada. The homes on the hill are caves, a mixed traveler community lives there, rent free.