35mm

As I review the last few years of loss, love, travel, the memories flood back to me, the smells, the movement, the vivid color. I have been very fortunate.

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One vivid experience was during my visit to Moengo, a town inland Suriname, close to the Amazon. The trees were extraordinarily tall, thin, and tall. The buzz of insects and animals was thick, as thick as the brush underneath our feet, crunching as we stepped further inside. Without our guide, we would have quickly been gobbled up by the surroundings. The smells were rich of forest and dew. Flora and fauna twisting and twirling, free to move and grow as they pleased, lush.

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As we walked further into the jungle, he taught us, mostly with hand motions and by example, of how he and his friends would hunt and navigate the wood, marking trees with his machete, banging on the trees, clearing the brush. He showed us the fun he had, and has, inside this landscape, also demonstrating his familiarity, and comfort inside. A place deeply close to his heart.

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One of the last moments in our walk, he pulled on a hanging branch, hanging far, far down from heights beyond my imagination and began swinging on it. Our giggles erupted, the children inside of us begging to join in on the fun.

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All images are 35mm black and white negatives, copyright SMKM.

**Thanks to Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator I was chosen to travel to Suriname as part of their annual International Cultural Exchange program, 2016**