Every year, the largest carnival in South America – after Rio, of course – takes place in the city of Oruro, Bolivia. Life here is not easy, though, particularly after the closing of most mines. The simplest meal is a luxury, even if it costs just a few Bolivianos.

Wedding in the village of Toledo, Oruro Department, Bolivia. The entire village population takes part in the celebrations. The bride and groom lead the wedding guests in a dance around the village’s main square. Friends have hung banknotes around the groom’s neck as a morning gift. - Book: Picture 120 - Bolivia - 1976

All Saints’ Day at a cemetery near Oruro. Every year, the indigenous people visit their dead at the cemetery and pray for them, as well as for ancestors who died long ago. They then sit around the graves, eat the food they have brought with them and drink chicha. They also visit the graves of friends to emphasise the strong bonds that unite people even beyond death. - Book: Picture 122 - Bolivia - 1976

In the Bolivian Altiplano, between the towns of Toledo and Corque in the department of Oruro, there are numerous shallow, salt-rich waterholes scattered across this barren high-altitude desert landscape. They lie at an altitude of around 3,700 metres on the western side of the Lake Poopó basin, where shallow salt lakes and lagoons form periodically during the rainy season. This is an ideal habitat for the endangered Andean flamingos (Phoenicoparrus andinus) and James’s flamingos (Phoenicoparrus jamesi). – Bolivia – 1976

A scene on the way to Oruro: an indigenous woman who has spread her freshly washed laundry out to dry on the stony ground and on small bushes. Laying the clothes out on the clean ground, warmed by the sun, or on bushes makes the most of the strong UV rays and heat of the high-altitude sun to dry the clothes quickly. – Bolivia – 1976

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