“Donde Florecen Estas Flores” (Where These Flowers Bloom) is a tribute to the women of my homeland, Peru, especially those from the highlands. Andean women have long expressed their identity and preserved their cultural heritage through fashion. Traditional garments such as handmade polleras (pleated skirts), enaguas (underskirts), and ojotas (sandals) embody both ancestral craftsmanship and local knowledge; these textiles, many of which are handwoven, reflect both the histories of the region and the Indigenous communities that steward the land.

Drawing on both documentary and fashion photographic approaches, Donde Florecen Estas Flores places Indigeneity firmly in the foreground—and aims to challenge conventional depictions of Indigenous cultures in Peru. It’s also deeply personal. To work on this photographic series, I returned to my birthplace, Cusco, twice, and visited the neighboring villages in the Valle Sagrado region.

“Donde Florecen Estas Flores” aims to spark a conversation about internalized racism in a Peruvian society that undermines Indigenous knowledge, blood, and land as “other” or inferior. Growing up, I was taught to strive for whiteness, without questioning the vestiges of colonialism. While my maternal grandmother has strong Indigenous roots in Peru, I’m perceived as white. As a result, I did not make a direct connection between her heritage and my own ethnicity, and until recently, I did not consider myself to have Indigenous ancestry.

This series is both a personal exploration of my own family history, and an homage to the beautiful women I collaborated so closely with—who live on, steward, and protect the land where the flowers bloom.

Images from Donde Florecen Estas Flores are on show at Holding Space, a group exhibition by Thursday’s Child curated by Atmos culture director Daphne Chouliaraki Milner alongside Ashleigh Kane and Jamie Allan Shaw, which runs through January 16, 2025, at 1014 Gallery in London.