The photographs on this page are from a work in progress, one that I hope to finish in 2009. "Campesino" is a word that truly does not translate into English. It is a very broad term, particularly in Nicaragua, where it that includes small scale farmers, indigenous groups, rural farm and village workers, amongst others.

Ethnic profilers have frequently commented that the mestizo society of Nicaragua is much more Indian than Spanish, accentuating that while Europeans and indigenous have mixed, the essence of the mestizo Nicaraguan remains Indian, to such an extent that some have even argued that those of near pure-Spanish descent, have also grown to adopt the behavior traits and attitudes associated with indigenous Nicaraguans.

I would argue that Nicaragua is neither Spanish nor mestizo nor indigenous, but rather campesino, something much broader and elusive, quite difficult to fit into neat ethnic categories. Despite a massive push towards urban living in the 20th century, the mindset of the Nicaraguan remains essentially rural and all that is associated with rural-ness in Nicaragua, indigenous and otherwise.

This black & white documentary photography series does not pretend to serve as an anthropological survey of the Nicaraguan people, rather it strives to provide a glimpse into the heart of the Nicaraguans, photographed in the hidden hearts of their country. It is a photographic series that I hope will invite the viewer into the materially poor yet often enviable life of the Nicaraguan campesino. The campesinos are people from whom one can learn much, though only if able to sweep back one's veil of arrogance. The Nicaraguan campesinos possess a profound prosperity, one that many from the overdeveloped world have grown almost too blind to see. It is a wealth as rich as a black rural night that drips with stars and cuddles the wind with trees.