Rató, Spirit of waterfalls, Pemon culture, Venezuela

Antonio Briceño

Antonio Briceño is a Venezuelan photographer and biologist whose work promotes the conservation of nature and indigenous cultures. In his dramatic body of work entitled “Gods of America,” Briceño creates dynamic portraits of indigenous people set against natural and cultural landscapes. Briceño melds images of primordial environments and spiritual leaders into visions that evoke the archetypes commonly found in human cultures throughout time. In each photograph, Briceño portrays a scene from the spiritual narrative of an indigenous culture. He presents his deified subject as the “owner” of a natural element or force, drawing attention to the stark difference between Western concepts of ownership and those of indigenous cultures. The indigenous “owners” do not exercise dominion over nature with the right to exploit it, but rather are the humble guardians of the natural world, responsible for its stewardship. In these images, the owners are extensions of nature itself, spiritual symbols of the gifts of life. From a cascading waterfall to a headdress of fish, each of Briceño’s visual mythologies provides a glimpse into an aboriginal heritage in which life continues to unfold within the cathedral of nature.

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inkblot in the form of insect with wolf profiles in negative space

image of mountain with reflection in lake

Anemey, God of waters and purification, Piaroa culture, Venezuela

In the words of the artist: “. . . In the cosmogony and mythology of every people, the essential facts of human existence are repeated, taking local forces as protagonists and witnesses. Each hill, lake, river, desert, valley or stone participates in the creation of the Cosmos, and has a direct, personal relationship with the inhabitants who observe it and give it a name. . . . I have sought the Gods of America from the rough, steep Sierra Madre Occidental of the Huichol to the lush heart of the Amazon forest of the Piaroa and Kayapo; from the cloud forests of the Kogui in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the serene Caribbean sea of the Kuna at Kuna Yala; from the enigmatic Gran Sabana of the Pemón to the austere deserts of the Wayuú; from the coastal forests of the Wiwa to the majestic Andean peaks of the Quero. As numerous as the rivers that run through America are the languages that invoke its spirits. Its gods – gods of the human race – have been destroyed a thousand times and a thousand times been born again to reign and rule over our destinies. And so they will go on until the end of time, for long after the last of us has disappeared they will continue to exist as our most intimate and primordial Natural Pantheon.” Explore the Gods of America series in this annotated slide show.

Awishama, Owner of coca, Wiwa culture, Colombia

For thousands of years, indigenous groups have been using the coca plant in daily life, religious ceremonies and even as a currency. In the Wiwa culture, coca leaves are consumed to mark the transition to manhood and are exchanged as a sign of mutual respect. For many indigenous groups, including the Wiwa, it is a sacred plant with a rich mythology. Few plants, however, have a history as fraught with conflict and controversy as the coca plant. This plant, which promotes health in its whole form, is profoundly toxic to people and communities when processed into cocaine. In many communities in South America, the coca plant continues to dominate daily life and folklore, but in less salutary ways than it has in the past.

indigenous man in front of forested mountains

Kalakashé, Owner of forest, Kogui culture, Colombia

The Kogui people are believed to be direct descendants of the Tairona civilization, which developed in Colombia around 2000 years ago. Following the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s, the lives of the Tairona tribes were disrupted by encroachment and confrontation. Eventually, part of the Tairona population moved further into the remote cloud forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where they remained isolated from the Spanish. Learn about Kogui life today and their deep connection to nature and tradition in this video from BBC, and hear about Briceño’s experience with the Kogui in this video excerpt.

Botoque, Owner of fire, Kayapo culture, Brazil

The Kayapo live in the Brazilian rainforest near the Amazon River. They manage a variety of ecosystems, and use fire to create clearings for fruit trees and other useful plants. While the land management practices of the Kayapo are sustainable, the burning of forests by cattle ranchers and other industries is not. Scientists fear that ongoing deforestation and fire are pushing the Amazon to a tipping point that could trigger dieback, a process that would tranform the rainforest into a savanna-like landscape and release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere. The Kayapo have fought numerous industries and development projects in an effort to protect the rainforests of the Amazon, and they are confronted by new threats every year. Learn about their struggles in this article from National Geographic.

indigenous man in front of natural landscape

Bepkororoti, Owner of storms, Kayapo culture, Brazil

Antonio Briceño traveled to the remote villages of each indigenous group to research this body of work. Briceño learned about the traditions and beliefs directly from the shamans and engaged them as active participants in the development of visual representations of their gods. To create each image, Briceño took multiple photographs, and used digital editing tools to construct a final image from those source images. Learn more about his process for making the portrait above and other works in these short videos.

Hiyuxa, Owner of fishes, Wiwa culture, Colombia

The construction of hydroelectric dams is the greatest threat to many indigenous groups all over the world. These projects, which are driven by the demand for power, displace indigenous communities and disrupt the ecosystems that support their survival. Dams alter aquatic environments and often ravage fish populations by blocking migrations, altering sediments, and creating slack-water habitats in which endemic species cannot survive. Learn more about the devastating impact of hydroelectric dams on indigenous groups in this report from Survival International.