I Am Rich Potosi: The Mountain That Eats Men

by Stephen Ferry and Eduardo Galeano

The magnificent mountain of Potos? in Bolivia yielded more silver than any other mountain or region of the world. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries this wealth flowed through Spain into Europe and played an important role in the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and trade with Asia. Yet the grueling work of extracting the silver was left to the indigenous population of the Andes, who were enslaved by the Spanish and died by the thousands...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158093028X
• ISBN13: 9781580930284
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Monacelli Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.4" x 11.4"

Customer Reviews

Captured images of the otherworldliness of the Potosi miners

Miners live in a world that almost defies description, except by the miners themselves. And the Potosi miners live in an exceptional world in itself, because the altitude of Potosi and the consequent thinning of the atmosphere at that height confer mining work, and even merely being there, with a permanent feeling of irreality in all your actions and thoughts. And that is what Stephen Ferry's images have captured in this outstanding book, the work of a real adventurer of the printed image. And Galeano's text is a fitting companion to such singular and excellent photographic work.

Wonderful!

First off, I had the opportunity to sit in on 3 of Mr. Ferry's Photographic lectures on Latin America, with one of them dealing with Potosi. At first sight of these photos I thougth they were good, but after he explained the particulars behind each and every picture, the book comes to life. It is now one of my favorite photographic books of all time. Eduardo Galeano fills in the historical aspect of the book and Ferry satiates the contemporary features of Potosi, Bolivia. In response to an earlier review(the only really negative review of Ferr'y book) I respect the fact that you are a native born Bolivian, but if you look at Latin American History as a whole, there really in not much that is good about it. I am sure there are small subtle lifestyles that are interesting, but people want to read and learn about historical mishaps and atrocities, such as the the colonial raping of Potosi and the current poverty of the same region.

Story of a Silver Mine Through Time

Beautiful photographs and intriguing commentary capture the poignant story of Potosi, an ancient and fraught silver mine in Bolivia. It is truly a mine that eats the men who work it, the beauty of the photographs is surprising considering their content and the disturbing information they display. Mr. Ferry's interaction with the miners and their community lends insight into the people who give their lives to this mine. His journal entries and the historical introduction to the pictures are a good read.

OUTSTANDING

I AM RICH POTOSI presents a stirring portrayal of a courageous, determined people. Stephen Ferry's work is a major contribution to understanding the colonization of the America's and the ongoing struggle of indigenous people's. The photographs and text capture Potosi's vibrant culture, and enormous historical significance. This is journalism at its best.

This is a beautiful and terrifying book.

You can open to any page at random in I Am Rich Potosí and be struck dumb by how much life Ferry captures in the color and light of his pictures. But only by working through the whole extraordinary sequence of photographs -- as they take you through the mines, the town, the ritual life, the homes, and even the mortality of Potosí's miners - can you appreciate the intimacy with which Ferry approaches his subjects. His pictures manage to portray the depth of the miners' culture in Potosí and at the same time unsentimentally depict the grim social conditions which make Potosí "a giant monument to the conquest of the Americas." The result is a beautiful and terrifying book.