Stoked to have a couple shots in the spring issue of STAY WILD! 5 years later I rescanned the negatives from my South America trip and found this one I had previously overlooked. Go snatch a copy. ‪#‎TheseNewPoutines‬‪#‎Peru‬

We were back in small town Montañita, Ecuador and we'd lost Juan for about 8 hours. It was really unusual as we were always together and he'd never skip out on the swell that had started to fill in. We went for a damn good surf and ate lunch and went for another one. Still no Juan. "The hell?" I thought. We were starting to get worried. Late that evening he walked up the stairs and we yelled "Juan where the heck have you been!?" and he replied "Just talking to my beautiful girlfriend back home." Then about five minutes later he said "Oh, and I got into Harvard today."

Roberto & Juan | 35mm film

A bad combination of fear and addiction.

Peruvian Hostel

Sanitary standards for cooking are far more relaxed then we are used to back home. Unrefrigerated meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, and milk, unwashed vegetables and fruit, and tap water are a recipe for disaster. There's no telling how many times antibiotics and vaccines like Dukoral came into play and prevented us from getting travelers diarrhea. And at some point it will fail you as well...

Lobitos, Peru | These New Poutines | HP5 35mm film

Bedridden

We were sick as fuck in a hotel we paid three bucks a night for. With bug infested bamboo walls, wet concrete floors, a sheet metal roof, no hot water, no shower curtain, no mirror, no toilet seat, and not enough toilette paper to wipe our asses and puke off the floor. The fourth time I puked my teeth and face went numb, then my face and hands started to contort and paralyze. I started hyperventilating and all my muscles started seizing up because I was so dehydrated. I then laid in my bed fidgeting, having a panic attack while two guys messaged my body and talked some nonsense about how I wasn't going to die. I was going crazy.

Why's Juan laughing so hard?

Why's Juan laughing so hard? Because I'm naked. We were going through some surf withdrawal and were hungry for action so we took a dune buggy out to check out a zip line that spans a mile across the Andes and the Amazon Basin. Roberto went first and I suited up next. With no forms to sign or safety instructions at hand, the only way I was doing this was full on. So I got naked. I knelt on the wooden platform while the owners strapped me in with some help from a police officer. Hans fallowed suit.

Baños, Ecuador.

We were expecting a large hot spring where we could meet some local girls or maybe some pretty Swedes and show off our bods. We were pretty choked when we arrived to an empty mud bath in a dessert. Instead we all got naked.

Smoking isn't cool... anymore. I use to smoke. Especially on these trips. I felt like it was a free for all. It's more accessible when you're down south and it's a sixth of the price, and even deadlier when you can by singles. If your trying to quit you rely on the singles. If you don't smoke, you smoke the singles. And no one you know is around to judge! Bob here, he was always concerned about my health though. He didn't smoke. But for this photo I asked him to look tough and pose with a dart. You know, to put contrast on things. Turn it around. Make cool uncool, and to use him as a reflection of myself. I'm almost a year smoke free!

THESE NEW POUTINES

I have a bunch of new photos up from my trip down to South America. Of all my styles this kind of photography is what I want to keep recreating most.

Have a look and let me know what you think!

Bad Relationships.

35mm | Ecuador | 2010 | Unapologetic Apologies