Bolivia is a country nurturing special poets, songs, and a long history.  Park Nohae, a poet and photographer, leads people along Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world.  Lake Titicaca was a place of peace for the Incas.  They left their life stories around Lake Titicaca and it held fast their legacy and history.  Park Nohae also reflects on Che Guevara, an impressive revolutionist in Bolivia.  How about moving your soul by following the features of Lake Titicaca and the history of Bolivia?

Traversing the Bolivia Exhibition

The Bolivia Exhibition is being held at Ra Café Gallery, and it highlights a series of Park Nohae’s photographs.  Ra Café Gallery is a cultural place, used as a cafeteria and as an exhibition hall.  Even though it is quite small and doesn’t hold wide exhibitions, the small details and petty atmosphere is charming.  As you look at and read the introduction before examining the photographs, Park Nohae manages to install a sense of deep history of the power, glory, justice, and love emanating from Lake Titicaca.  The exhibition begins with the words, “I always stand at life’s crossroads, which are made by the soul of Che Guevara.”

Starting Life in Bolivia

The Morning of La Paz shows the starting point of the day for Bolivians.  Since we can see the whole town from La Paz, the highest capital city in Bolivia, we intake the atmosphere surrounding the town.  La Paz means ‘peace,’ and is the name given by Simon Bolivar who was the hero of Andes.  He achieved independence for Bolivia from Spain.  The picture shows a peaceful moment in the morning and exemplifies the hope that Bolivians feel as they start their day.

The Mother with Peace

The Mother of Andes is a picture of a mother who is 94 years old.  She cared for her family for years by merely digging potatoes every day.  Even after she was able to help each of her children become successful, she never stopped digging potatoes at Lake Titicaca Village.  The mother believes that utmost freedom and peace stems from preserving her home village.  She said, “Our hope before acquiring independence was to find our own land upon which we could dig potatoes.  We should realize how precious every day of our lives is, starting today.” 

Reality of Life 

Photographer Park Nohae also shows us the real life of Bolivians.  In this picture, he captures the death of a 35 years old woman who had worked as a miner her whole life.  Even though she worked hard in a mine since her younger days, she never had the chance to buy any gold rings or silver chains.  She left behind her children and a family that couldn’t soothe her sad soul even with clusters of flowers.  This details how Bolivians lived an exhausting life around the village of Lake Titicaca.

Beautiful Vagabonds

Even though the people of Bolivia faced hardships and exhaustion, we can find beauty in the nation’s people.  By looking at photographs of vagabonds living the town of Lake Titicaca, we see them dressed in traditional clothing called Cholla.  They seem to be wanderers, but they look quite beautiful in their outfits, revealing small hope for a better life.  Bolivian vagabonds in Cholla resemble freshwater in the middle of the hot desert.

Photographer Park Nohae brilliantly expresses his emotions in his photos of and around Lake Titicaca, Bolivia.  Even though many of the photos do not contain a sense of “happiness,” onlookers can surely feel the sense of national hope that Bolivians hold dearly.  By experiencing the feeling of happiness and bright emotions in the mist of blackness, audiences could have an opportunity to think deeply about their everyday life.

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