Peace in the Valley is a wonderful image collection of vignettes of the Bolivian landscape by photographer Salem Ahmed. It is a visual love affair with people, places and scenes presented in soft, colorful tones, and thoughtful compositions that create a meaningful dialog between photographer and the city of Nuestra Señora de la Paz, or just La Paz for short.
Entropy and pragmatic utility stand side-by-side in the images Ahmed presents for the viewer’s pleasure. Like a shabby chic dressed model on a runway, La Paz is a patchwork of urban fabric draped over its streets and buildings; adorned with graffiti, power lines, and retention fences that lure our gaze.
His images felt to me as if they had genuine sentimental value. These were studies of a city, as well as a remembrance to be kept. While Ahmed’s introduction to the book gives one an idea of the setting and what it means to him personally, the images carry the viewer through to the end.
“The city is loud, dirty, and chaotic. Traffic laws are merely suggestions, as black clouds of exhaust fumes blanket rush-hour gridlocks and zebra-striped crosswalks. The opening-and-closing of sliding doors on taxi minivans, and the rumble of diesel engines from repurposed military buses reverberates through the streets.”
“La Paz is a city that has consistently broke my heart and challenged my physical and mental toughness. It is also another home to me. Despite my frustrations, I continued to return to La Paz to try and understand a place that didn’t always make sense. These photographs serve as a tribute to the beautiful people of Bolivia and my continued search for the meaning of peace.”
Peace in the Valley allows the viewer to walk through La Paz and see what Ahmed has seen — a beautiful city that might appear imperfect on the surface, but when we soak up the details and enjoy the scenes, we too can fall in love.
For more information, please visit Ahmed’s website, instagram, or the website for Another Place Press. Peace In The Valley is one of their latest releases, and these coveted books by Another Place Press are amazingly affordable.
60 pp / 200 x 150mm
Perfect Bound
Fedrigoni paper:
300gsm cover, 170gsm text
Edition of 150
APP010
ISBN 978–0–9935688–9–3
Saleem Ahmed is a photographer, writer and educator based in Philadelphia.
Another Place Press is a small independent publisher interested in contemporary photography that explores landscape in the widest sense, covering themes which include land, place, journey, city and environment — from the remotest corners of the globe to the centre of the largest cities. Iain Sarjeant is the founder and editor of Another Place, and Another Place Press.
Originally published at wobnebmagazine.com on July 21, 2017.