After our second day of filming in Peru in the region of Iquitos, we went down to the Rio Ananais. We took out the drone and contemplated this beautiful scenery of the serpentine curves of the river, which shows the beauty of the Brazilian-Peruvian Amazon. The winding river and vast forest seen here are both under threat. The river has been the battleground for pro-mining efforts that have contaminated the waters and the forest is slowly diminishing.

On a hill above the banks of the Rio Itaya, river dwellers live floating on the waters across from the larger city of Iquitos. In the city, the historic Malecon boardwalk of Iquitos sits right at the edge of the water. This panoramic view depicts a picturesque image of the urban and the rural in contrast, both relying on the environment around them.

Taken minutes after leaving Iquitos, this photograph shows the front of the cargo ship Maria Fernanda with the lights of the city reflecting in the water. Before we could board, we were sent to several health service stations and a group of doctors came to the consulate to check us for COVID-19 symptoms.

After we departed from Iquitos, we stopped at multiple villages on our journey to Tabatinga. On the cargo ship, the low sun and pastel skies reflected on the waters of the Amazon, softening the view and enticing anyone who can to set their eyes on the overwhelmingly beautiful sight of the forest.

Various women are standing and waiting for the cargo boat with their veils on their heads, most of them belonging to a strong religious group that lives in a different and more challenging world compared to that of other groups in the Amazon.

Many villagers from the community of Angamos stand waiting for essential supplies such as rice, beverages, raw materials, etc.

When the COVID-19 virus first made global news in mid-March, the former president of Peru closed the Peruvian borders, which stopped anyone from entering or leaving the country. It was announced that we had until the next day to leave the country, so we attempted to leave for Colombia, but our flight was canceled. The Brazilian consulate managed to get us on a cargo ship called Maria Fernanda going from Iquitos, Peru, to Tabatinga, Brazil. This picture is an aerial view of the cargo ship, which stopped in about 10 different villages to bring food and supplies to communities in need.

This panoramic view of the town shows how deep into the forest it goes, where a large number of people live removed from dense cities. All of these smaller communities have ports on the Amazon River, the means through which they have access to goods made in larger cities.

The boat stopped in the community of Cochiquinas, and we saw this group of kids playing at the edge of the river while waiting for their families. Other family members were removing supplies from the cargo ship while they stayed nearby entertaining themselves.

The community of Pebas has many homes sitting on the water that receive their supplies through this family. The young man receives crates of fruits and vegetables that fill his canoe and he takes the supplies from the boat and delivers them to the other members of his community.

A panoramic view of the Amazon River next to one of the local communities on the way to Tabatinga. One of our final stops of the day, this sunset was photographed at the edge of this town, which is just one of many that are entirely dependent on the weekly supplies brought from the city.

Rather than seeing skyscrapers and apartment buildings, the architectural landscape of the Amazon is filled with wooden stilt houses, built to avoid the rising tides of the waters. The families here depend on the river for their livelihood.

The window captures the scene of this local community as the sun sets behind the village, depicting a solemn beauty of the life of these river dwellers. Inside the boat, we are separated by the walls of the ship but this moment shows the movement and life of the Amazon that exists despite any divisions we might have as outsiders.

The Fila Del community’s villagers are leaving to go fishing by boat, one of their daily routines. This inconsequential moment for them seems significant to us as they do not use a car or a bicycle but their boat, and their daily roads are the rivers.

On one of our first stops where supplies were unloaded, the villagers brought down drinks, food, and materials. Communities like this rely on boats to bring them weekly food items, which demonstrates the type of changes that have come over time to these people’s diets, lifestyles, and health habits. Most of the items on the boat are sodas and sugary beverages that were distributed at all the communities, indicating drastic changes in their habits and ways of eating which have been altered to incorporate a high level of sugary drinks.

A woman is seen here trying to sell her agricultural products to the people on the boat but, because of COIVID-19, we and the crew members are the only ones onboard. The boat was already close to empty, but one of the young men is shown here unloading a sack of onions.

At multiple stops on the Amazon River, there were several men aboard the ship who worked to unload the cargo for the villages. On one of their breaks, one of the workers stopped for a moment to enjoy a coconut on the ship.

Another town at the end of the day, the ship stopped in a sequence of communities where residents eagerly waited for the ship to bring what they needed. Little by little, the materials on board diminished after every stop.

A local woman came to sell papayas, normally to the passengers of the cargo ship, but we bought some fruit from her as she was especially kind to us. The papayas were sweet and delicious.

The sun sets over the riverside community of San Isidro where villagers come to unload cargo from the ship. The cargo is slowly dwindling in size just as our journey from Iquitos to Tabatinga is soon coming to an end.

In the early days of the lockdown in Iquitos, due to COVID-19, I contemplate various gatherings of empty boats and people concerned about this sudden emptiness. The true dangers for many in the Amazon is not the pandemic, but the hunger that comes with it.

In the municipality of Caballococha, this family eagerly helps the father who arrived with his catch of the day. His canoe is pulled up right in front of their stilt house.

This man was selling his fish on the edge of the Amazon River, attempting to sell his products even after the Colombian and Peruvian borders had closed to Brazil.

While traveling on the Amazon River, we found this boy in Iquitos who was cleaning the fish his father caught so they could eventually sell their catch. We were looking around for images that captured the essence of the city and the struggles of the locals when we came across this young boy. The villagers manage to survive and sell their products in order to make a decent living, despite the ensuing consequences of closed borders caused by the pandemic.

Groups of houses like this that sit directly on the Amazon River exist all over the region as many individuals rely on the river’s resources for their livelihood.

Belén District is one of 13 districts of the Maynas Province and it is well known for its market that sells anything caught and raised in the region, drawing fisherman and farmers alike to the city. We were able to ride through the entire Belen Market with a motorcycle, but we stopped at the flood plains at the edge of the Itaya River where this photograph was taken. The city is home to around 60,000 people, most of whom live in extreme poverty on the banks of the river.

In an important area of the Belén region, this photograph touches on several intricacies about life in the Amazon. There is a school entrance on the left, while a soccer field is in the middle and the plaza is surrounded by houses. The trash in the rising water is proof of the growing problem of pollution.

Passing in a canoe on the borders of the river, we saw this man taking a bath on the side of his house. It was refreshing to see him in a natural way and enjoying his bath on a hot day.

A local stilt house, or palafita, that sits on the Amazon River to protect the family from flooding. Their boat with local resources, like wood and fish, sits outside of the house as the main means through which they maintain their livelihood.

This is the family who lives in the palafita house, consisting of a mother and her four sons, whom we had the opportunity to spend time with and talk to.

We were filming on the Peru side of Tabatinga when we found this girl and her mother eating. They are eating their lunch on banana leaves; we interrupted their lunch to take their picture. The face and the eyes look at the camera.

Sunset after a long day of filming on the Ananais River, this fisherman’s hut is a typical house built on the rivers of the Amazon.

A young child hides himself in the canoe as he was about to go fishing with his father. The playfulness of his attitude subtly touches on how children in the Amazon live their daily lives.

After a long day of shooting on the river, we came back down to Iquitos where we encountered one of the river dwellers washing his clothes outside his house. This typical Amazonian scene shows the daily lifestyle of the ribeirinhos.

In downtown Iquitos at the border of the river, we spotted this local fisherman listening to music in his house. When asked how he thought things were going regarding the COVID-19 virus, he replied that he was concerned but he wasn’t afraid.

The cargo ship had finally arrived in Tabatinga, where we spent five days waiting for our plane. Because the borders were closed, we saw many Peruvians who crossed the border to Brazil to sell their bananas and other products in Tabatinga out of necessity, because they could not afford to live without these sales.

A local family in Iquitos preparing the Piracatinga fish for their dinner, which is considered a delicacy of the region. In other regions in the Amazon, however, the fish is thought to be unhealthy to eat. These regional fishes are an important part of the Amazonian diet and many families are dependent on the river for their everyday meals.

An older man in a canoe looks very sternly at the river ahead of him, showing his experience and knowledge of the local fishing scene on the Amazon. In the background, trash floats at the top of the river but his search for hope takes him away from his own circumstances.

This picture, taken on the Solimões river, captures the beauty and magic of the Amazon as the river bends and flows, cutting through the forest green under the bright sunny sky.