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Helena Christensen opens in London her photo exhibition about Peru

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The Danish former supermodel Helena Christensen, now a a photographer, documented the threat that global climate change is posing to the indigenous people of Peru (the native country of her mother) in a series of photographs which are being exhibited in London since last Thursday.

Christensen traveled to the Peruvian Andes earlier this year with Oxfam (the organization that sponsors the exhibition) to portray the suffering of indigenous people who are increasingly dealing with from lack of water and food due to rising temperatures, a change in the cycle of seasons and an accelerated melting of glaciers.

Peru is the third most vulnerable to climate change country after Honduras and Bangladesh, and its glaciers have lost 22% of its total area in the last 30 years, which is equivalent to Lima's water consumption for 10 years, according Oxfam.

"For many of us, climate change is an idea that belongs to the distant future but for millions of people in developing countries it is already a devastating reality," said Christensen, less than three weeks before the opening of the Copenhagen climate summit (to start on December 7th).

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# hola1980 says :
22 November, 2009 [ 18:06 ]

I went to see this today, however  it would of been nice to see some positive pictures of Peru instead of the tipical 'poverty style pictures' which I think and I know my husband also finds insulting at times.
It's like 'poverty tourisum' lets show the world how rubbish these people live so us in the 'developed countrys feel better about ourselfs'..I think its inportant to show a balanced mix of photos of the positive changes Peru has made as well.. however positive photos dont sell and dont get publicity as they simply dont have the 'shock factor' or the oooooooh factor which celebrities want. I Also dont like to see children being explioted in this way...life may be rubbish for them in the pictures but at least show some respect for the little dignty they have left and stop using their miserary to gain publicity.  Every country has its pockets of poverty and deperivation..yet i wonder how often do we ever see pictures of them in all the misery.
 I'd just like to see Peru shown some Respect more often.

# Kate Pflum says :
22 November, 2009 [ 22:53 ]

I just want to make a quick response to hola 1980.  Well, I can appreciate your frustration but although I'm just one person I have now traveled to Peru 5 times and if my life circumstances allowed I would be proud to live in Peru because of the people and the culture and the food and the beautiful country.  You are right...every place has poverty and problems and Peru deserves to have good publicity.  In the last year there have been several travel articles about Peru in the New York Times newspaper (not just Macchu Picchu, spelling sorry) as well as articles in magazines like Gourmet and Food and Wine about Peruvian food and Gaston Acurio.  So it's happening, don't worry.

# Bert says :
23 November, 2009 [ 08:16 ]

 I agree with the above comment.
 News that prominent scientists have been falisifying climate change data is just now being reported. Climate change is big business and a FRAUD.  

# Peruvian says :
23 November, 2009 [ 09:15 ]

I totally disagree with the previous comment, Peru has their own tourist office to promote the beauty of our landscape but we as a part of the civil society can not hide or deny the harsh reality of the people living in poverty. I congtratulate  Helene for her effort to show the reality of the climate change in Peru and above all how it affects to the most vulnerable especially in the Andes. Tourists are not stupid not to  realize that wherever they go in Peru there are always children begging or asking them to buy handicrafts ,postcards etc.  There must be something to do about it and not just to ignore it. Hiding the problem is not solving it. Typical attitude of some people and some of them  Peruvians  who are not interested in issues like poverty because they are used to live in a fantasy world. They believe that the indigenous population living in poverty is part of the landscape and it is natural. More than 30 per cent live in poverty and near 15 per cent live in extreme poverty  and these are official figures. So poverty in Peru  is not just 'pockets' it is reality that involves the whole society. As the photos suggests climate change should be linked to global poverty in that sense this exhibition makes a good point.

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