Dilmar
Gamero Santos

Mamacha Carmen (2007-present)

Every July in the Peruvian Andes, the Mamacha Carmen celebration in Paucartambo, Peru, gathers hundreds of devotees who sing, dance and pray using traditional costuming and ornamentation.
During the procession, the devotees carry spiritual altarpieces, demandas, that contain the sacred figure of the Mamacha Carmen. These demandas preserve the sense of community and identity that integrates Catholic tradition with Andean rituality.
These altarpieces and the five-volume photobook are part of my reflective and creative process about this celebration. They include personal photographs, alternative photographic processes, and costume embroidery from the celebration. Each altarpiece contains one volume of a photobook describing the history and story of the festival and a series of Platinum/Palladium prints.
​​After more than a decade of participating in this ritual, I discovered that the real miracle of Mamacha Carmen is how it spiritually and physically engages everyone with faith, color, movement, and the devotion of the dancers and their families.
To review the photobooks: https://www.dilmargamero.com/mamachacarmen.html