Photo Gallery

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Andenes, terrasses de cultures incaïques de Pisac (département du Cuzco).

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
La Sierra péruvienne est peuplée essentiellement d'indiens qui vivent en communauté et qui s'adonnent à l'agriculture. En certains endroits la fertilité de la terre est remarquable. - Récolte de céréales, Tiobamba, Cuzco, au fond du Nevado Chicón, 5530m - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
L'emploi de machines est impossible dans la Cordillère des Andes, déjà à cause des difficultés du terrain. Tous les travaux agricoles se font à la main et sous le signe de la communauté. Récolte de pommes de terre à 4500 mètres d'altitude. - 1969

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
La chaquitaclla ou bèche incaique est encore en usage de nos jours parmi les populations de l'altiplano. - Hacienda San Juan de Chuquibambilla, Puno. - 1969

The Jequetepeque Valley is one of the most important and historically significant agricultural regions on the Peruvian Pacific coast. This area is regarded as one of Peru’s largest rice-growing regions. As the coastal climate there is extremely dry (desert climate), intensive wet rice cultivation is made possible by a sophisticated, millennia-old system of canals and by water from the river. Peru – 1969

The photograph shows the typical landscape of the fertile Jequetepeque Valley, which is one of the most important centres for wet rice cultivation in Peru. – Peru – 1976

In autumn, the predominant color of the cultivated fields in the Sierra is brown. Near Huancayo, Junín Department. - 1969

Nothing illustrates the economic and social diversity as well as farming methods. Whilst tractors are used in some areas, indigenous people on their smallholdings still cultivate their fields in a way that has not changed since Inca times. - Book: Picture 91 - Peru - 1969

The rivers flowing down from the Western Cordillera cross the Peruvian coastal desert on their way to the Pacific Ocean. Around forty box-shaped valleys with broad floors and steep sides are carved into the desert plateau, which slopes gently down towards the sea. With their vineyards, lucerne fields and vegetable plots lined with rows of trees, they form green oases in a barren landscape. When travelling along the Carretera Panamericana and passing through these valleys, such as that of the Rio Vítor, one is constantly surprised by the sight of the fertile strips of cultivated land that criss-cross the desert. - Book: Picture 88 - Peru - 1976

Nevado Salcantay, the ‘wild’ mountain, is the highest peak in the Vilcabamba Cordillera at 6,264 metres. Machu Picchu lies behind it. Clearly visible here are the famous agricultural patterns on the slopes in front of it, which are typical of traditional Andean agriculture in this region. One can see an artistic ‘coat of arms’ created by the plough, on which the totemic symbols of the puma and the condor are recognisable. – Above Saywite, near the top of the pass, before the descent to Abancay. – Peru – 1976

An indigenous man ploughing in Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia. Often, however, the soil is simply loosened using a narrow spade, the taclia (see Figure 90). - Book: Picture 118 - Bolivia - 1976

Near Huanuni in the department of Oruro. Having finished their day’s work, a farming couple are on their way home. Whilst the urban economy in Huanuni is dominated by Cerro Posokoni and the tin mine, small family farms in the surrounding countryside, at an altitude of just under 4,000 metres, ensure their basic subsistence by growing hardy, traditional crops such as potatoes, quinoa and cañahua. The region around Huanuni and the nearby Lake Poopó suffers greatly from the environmental consequences of centuries of mining, which is why traditional, nature-friendly farming methods without heavy machinery remain essential for the farmers. A team of two oxen (yunta) breaks up the dry, often stony soil. The donkey often carries the precious seeds for the upcoming sowing before the rainy season. – Bolivia – 1976

Arable farming in the high-altitude Andean region of the municipality of Yunchará in the department of Tarija, in southern Bolivia. In the higher elevations of the Altiplano, frost-resistant crops such as field beans (haba), barley and camomile are primarily grown. In this remote highland region of Bolivia, the use of draught animals to plough the small plots enclosed by dry stone walls remains the most important method of preparing the soil before sowing. – Bolivia – 1976

The Quebrada Talabre in the Antofagasta region of Chile, with the Láscar volcano visible in the background. In the barren gorge, the traditional terraced fields, planted with greenery, and the stone enclosures – which were supplied with water via irrigation channels from the river – are clearly visible. In the same area lies the Quebrada Kezala, famous for its open-air museum featuring around 200 ancient rock engravings. – Chile – 1976

The photograph shows the snow-capped Volcán Osorno in the Los Lagos region of southern Chile, rising in the background behind a green pasture with grazing cows and trees. It is a striking stratovolcano with an almost perfectly symmetrical conical shape, which is often reminiscent of Mount Fuji in Japan. – Chile – 1975

The famous panoramic road, the ‘Ruta de los Siete Lagos’ (Road of the Seven Lakes), in the south-west of Neuquén Province connects the two holiday resorts of Villa La Angostura and San Martín de los Andes. It winds its way through the unspoilt natural landscape of the Nahuel Huapi and Lanín National Parks. Along this route, there are many sections featuring traditional wooden fences (‘tranqueras’ or ‘cercos de varas’) that mark the boundaries of private pastures and historic estancias, whilst the mighty peaks of the Andes tower in the background. – Argentina – 1975