About FairMail's Photography excursions

FairMail fotography excursions are:

*Adventurous two-week group travels to authentic and hardly visited destinations in Northern Peru & India.

*Special because you travel with Peruvian and Indianlocals (the FairMail teenagers) with whom you seek for photographs of authentic local beauty.

*Meant for adventurous travellers with interest in photography, alternative tourism and of course in FairMail.

Besides a maximum of 6 foreign travellers, 5 FairMail teenagers join the group, guided by an English speaking guide, a photography instructor and the Peruvian coordinator of FairMail Peru. Before and after the photography excursion it is possible to extend your stay in Peru with visits to other sites or by volunteering at local projects in Huanchaco, Peru.

FairMail photography excursions consist of three main parts

During the first days you can acclimatize in the fishing village of Huanchaco in Northern Peru or the Hindu pelgrim city of Varanasi in India. During this period you will get to know the FairMail teenagers, visit their homes and get to know their families. Besides visiting the touristic attractions you can spend your time learning Spanish or Hindi from a local teacher

After Huanchaco you travel with the group for a few days to one of the main attractions of the trip. Depending on the trip this can be: organic coffee farmers in the Andes, an eco-tourism destination in the cloud forest, a hill station the capital of the Northern Inca Empire, the Peruvian Amazon jungle or a rural community based tourism project near the highest snow capped peaks of the Andes or the Himalaya.

After arrival during a week we make various daytrips to beautifull and authentic destinations where you and the teenage photographers can share the joy of photography together. To take pictures walking is the best speed of travelling, therefor we do many hikes through rural and nature areas. On some days a few hours travel are necessary to get to a new village, thermal bath or forest we want to visit.

The advantages of FairMail Photography excursions:

The unique thing about FairMail’s photography excursions are that you travel with local teenage photographers. This gives you the unique oppertunity to get in contact with the local inhabitants en to share your perspective on beauty with the photographers so they can improve their photography. With your travel fee we can also pay for the travel expenses of one Peruvian or Indian teenager.

Another advantage is can guarantee the trip will go ahead, no matter how many bookings we get. The teenagers and their instructor go travelling anyway, if foreigners go or not. We need to make new pictures for the new catalogue anyway! This means if you book with us you can be sure you will actually be going on this unique adventure for sure!

CHECK OUT THE NEXT DEPARTURE DATES HERE!

What’s so original about travelling with FairMail:

The original thing about FairMail’s photography excursions are that you travel along with local teenagers who take pictures for FairMail. Past participants expressed how they enjoyed to personally get to know these talented and creative teenagers which haven’t always had such an easy life. Travelling with them also means you can get to know Peru or India through their eyes and their contacts with the local population. This is unique and will make you feel much less like a tourist during the trip. It is inspiring  to see the adolescents working so concentrated at taking pictures. At the beginning of the excursion you will have the opportunity to get to know the families of the teenagers and the areas where they live. Through the contact with the teenagers you will also be able to improve your Spanish or Hindi (and they their English!)

Your contribution during and after the excursion:

The great thing about FairMail photography excursions is that you don’t only treat yourself to a unique holiday but also one of FairMail’s teenage photographers! With your travel fee we are able to cover the travel expenses of one of the teenagers to come along with us.

But of course it’s not all about the money. What you can also contribute is your western/consumer perspective on beauty and what pictures you would like to see on a card you buy. By sharing this with the teenagers they can learn to work more demand driven for the demanding postcard market and that way earn more money to study what they really want. This way you are helping, in a very relaxing, fun and concrete way, a talented but deprived teenager working on improving his or her future.

After the excrusion we won’t easliy forget about you and hopefully you won’t forget about FairMail. Probably soon after your trip you will run into FairMail cards with photo’s taken during your presence when visiting shops. Maybe even the ones taken with the help of your tips! If you tell people around you about the unique story behind these cards you will be helping the teenagers sell more of their cards and thus realize their educational dreams! This way you are helping in a very concrete way!

Group size:

The photography excursions take place in little groups of between 8 and 12 participants. The groups generally consist of 5 teenage photographers, a photography instructor (long term FairMail volunteer), an English speaking travel guide and FairMail's national manager and a maximum of 5 foreign travellers. The excursion will go ahead no matter how many reservations there are.

To be able to participate:

To be able to participate in FairMail’s photography travels you need to:

• Have an intrest in photography, be motivated to take pictures and like it to give (simple) tips to the teenage photographers, share knowledge and experience and be willing to give your opinion on the pictures being taken.

• Like working with teenagers, give them attention and motivate them to improve.

• Have an interest in FairMail.

• If you want to travel to Peru you need to speak at least a few words of Spanish (or start the trips with at least 1 weak of classes, for example in Huanchaco). We do want to make you aware that the better you speak Spanish you more you will enjoy your trip because it will give you the opportunity to interrelate more with the teenagers. Past participants strongly recommend you to prepare your Spanish before going with us and if possible bring it to an intermediate level. If you are a cheerful, outgoing and loving person this generally compensates a lot if you lack Spanish skills.

• Have an open, friendly and flexible personality.

• Have a good physical condition and resilience.

• Take your own camera and accessories. It is sufficient to take an ordinary compact camera.

What we expect from you during your participation?

During your participation we expect you to:

• Actively participate in the taking of pictures.
• Be a pro-active and positive member of the group.
• Are willing to give guidance to the teenagers during activities in which photo’s are taken in small sub-groups. For example by motivating them , exchange tips and photo ideas and share which images you would like to see on a postcard as a western consumer.
• Willing to be responsible for a couple of the teenagers when the group has to split up in smaller sub-groups during certain excersices.

More Information?

Through the links on the top of this page you can find more information about this unique way of travelling while at the same time being able to help a talented Peruvian or Indian teenagers. If afterwards you still have any questions or would like further information please contact us by clicking here.

Slideshow FairMail Photography trip: "Darjeeling, Pearl of the Himalaya": 2011, India

 

Slideshow FairMail Photography trip: "The Lost Empire of the Chachapoya": 2009, Peru