The aim is to draw the visitor into the original conversation, to get him involved so that he can get a feeling of the intimate relation which took place. Conversation leads to an exchange between two participants. It is in fact the basis of the oral culture of these people. The photographs close up portraits fort the main part, also aim to create a special atmosphere which brings the storyteller and the narrator together so that they have the impression that they are face to face.

Photographs

The idea is to create a intimate meeting between the visitor and the Andean story teller featured. The style of the photos, often taken very close up with a 50 mm lens, reinforces this sens of intimacy. To further reinforce this, photos are printed in large format, mirroring human proportions. The photographs and the look of the subjects must create a link between two worlds; the voice then will do the rest and leading the visitors into a very special "elsewhere".

Stories
Tales, legends, personal stories, songs, testimony of the life in the mountains, from the past and present... Those stories are above all, human voices. All of them have been recorded (more than 20 hours of original digital recording). Moreover, all the stories have been translated so that the visitor can follow what the narrator says in his own language. These translations are also provided.

Sound
The stories are for most of them told in the native language of the narrators (Quechua, Aymara and Spanish) to respect this fundamental notion of true conversation.

The audience then find themselves encountering not just a particular vocal timbre but also a strange an unusual sonority which touches us even more.

A soundtrack is added to the portraits in a variety of ways: whether using a loudspeaker surrounding the photographs or stereo headphones by its side. The headphones have stronger capacity to create intimate atmosphere, like someone whispering into your ear. Here headphones ar more used for stories dealing with confidences or "Taboo" themes. Infrared auto-launch sound pattern is also an option.

Light and frame usage
Photographs are lit by direct and frame focus spotlights. The background is black. More over, the overall light of the rooms is quite low. The objective is to "isolate" the visitor in a intimate one-to-one relationship with the subject, thereby giving the feeling that this person is telling a story to me, the visitor.