by Kristin McKnight

Senior Kate Lord had studied abroad in France and seen most of Europe. After signing up for Professor Rich Beckman's "alternative fall break," it was time to see Peru. Lord didn't speak Spanish, but she knew how to work a camera. She had taken "Advanced Photojournalism" at UNC-Chapel Hill, and she felt it was time to get in the field and start taking pictures.

“It was really different,” recalled Lord, who grew up in Matthews, N.C. “Coming from suburban America, I was just amazed at how culturally and economically different it was.”

The students went to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, which became one of Charlotte’s seven sister cities in 1962. To honor the tie, Charlotte decided to make a Web site, bringing Arequipa’s history, people, religion and food closer to North Carolina residents. “We were trying to make a more interactive connection between the two cities,” Lord said. “They wanted to bring Peru to middle school classrooms and elementary students.”

Lord traveled with a small group of multimedia, graphics and other photojournalism students. Beckman had given each of them an assignment to complete over the break. Lord was assigned to do a story on cloistered nuns.

“It was a big deal because these ladies are always hidden behind a caged fence during Mass,” Lord said. Excited about the project, Lord was ready to start the day she set foot in Peru. She was assigned a Chilean audio partner, Andrea Ballocchi.

The nuns were not eager to let an outsider into the closed doors of their convent. Usually only local worshipers at daily Mass saw the nuns. Being photographed by an American was a rather outrageous idea. It took a couple of days before Lord was allowed to meet the nuns, observe their rituals and talk with them. “We had to convince them that we were not trying to exploit them,” Lord said. “It took awhile.”

Lord visited the nuns three times during allotted morning sessions, taking photos while her partner interviewed them in Spanish. They were there to learn about the nuns’ lives, their religion and what it was like to pray five to six times every day.
Other students profiled the lives of local shrimp farmers, Peruvian alpaca and bull herdsmen, and women coming together in a local community kitchen.

“During the day we pretty much worked on our own with our audio partner,” Lord said. “Sometimes we’d get to just go around the city and take pictures, but most of the time we were given specific assignments, to help the graphics and multimedia people.” Lord photographed the inside of a monastery from a 360-degree view, so multimedia students could create an interactive tour for Charlotte’s Web site.

In the evenings after work, the students would go home to their host families.

“We’d all be gathered around the computer on FreeTranslation.com,” she joked. “Me speaking broken Spanish and them speaking broken English.”

Despite the communication barriers, Lord said that spending time with the Peruvians was one of the best parts of the trip. Simple things, like watching movies or eating dinner together, made you feel like you were part of the local culture, she said.

Now that Lord’s trip is over and the Web site is complete (whitecitystories.org), Charlotte residents will only have to click to experience Arequipa’s culture.- ♦

Kristin McKnight is a senior in the school’s visual communication sequence. McKnight also is majoring in English.