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Background Information
"In late 2011, Peruvian news outlets reported on a series of barbaric murders that occurred deep in the Peruvian Amazon, in a region called Balsapuerto, home to the indigenous Shawi people. In just ten months, 14 traditional Shawi healers were victims of a wave of brutal murders. According to local reports, the alleged perpetrator was the mayor of Balsapuerto at the time, Alfredo Torres Rucoba. He and his brother Augusto were accused of carrying out a campaign of politically motivated murders of witch doctors, earning them the nickname "Los Matabrujos" (The Witch Killers).
Content
Winner of the Book Award at Arles 2023, the photographic volume 'Witch Hunt Vol.1: the Banished of Balsapuerto' is an investigation into the murder of a number of sorcerers in the Peruvian Amazon and the theories behind it. It uses a mixture of on-site interviews, police and forensic footage, excerpts from the local press, and original photographs and illustrations." (freely translated as well as slightly adapted publisher's text, © RM, 2022)
Additional information
The design of the photobook 'Witch Hunt Vol.1: the Banished of Balsapuerto' is by Angélique PILLIÈRE.