The northwestern corner of Ecuador is home to the tallest mangrove trees in the world. Amidst the trees´ towering, almost fantastical, roots, people of nearby Afro-Ecuadorian communities gather black shells as their form of livelihood. In local parlance shell pickers are known as concheros. Concheros start young. Children as young as 10 years old are expected to pick shells to contribute to their families’ income. Children make good shell-pickers because they are agile and light, allowing them to navigate around the infinite spider web of mangrove roots. Picking shells is a tremendously arduous task. Everyday concheros trudge through the knee-deep mud and endure the inclement environment of the forest to discover small crevasses within the buried roots. When they are lucky, they find shells. When they are unlucky, they might be stung by the poisonous toadfish or bitten by a watersnake. Yet the concheros endure because the black shells are considered a culinary delicacy in Ecuador. Even so, a conchero will be lucky to get 8 cents per shell. On average, a good conchero can find between 50 and 100 shells in a day’s work. Although community leaders do their best to encourage children to go to school, a large percentage drops out at an early age to become concheros. These environmental portraits explore the relationship between childhood, manual labor, and this unique ecosystem.
Children climb aboard a boat after a day of picking shells in the mud of the Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve, 2009.
Even though black shells are a culinary delicacy in Ecuador, shell pickers are only paid 8 cents of a dollar per shell. On average, pickers will find between 50 and 100 shells in a day´s work. San Lorenzo, Ecuador. 2010.
Jenny Quiñones has 5 brothers and sisters, 3 of which pick cockles in the mangrove. Children as young as 9 years old pick shells in the Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve to contribute to their families´ economy. Although local authorities have made important improvements keeping kids in school, their performance usually takes a toll as they are too tired to do homework or pay attention in class after 5 or 6 hours searching for shells in the arduous conditions of the mangrove. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador.
Alex Ocampo walks through a water inlet in the mangrove reserve. Shell pickers are used to work and walk waist deep in the mangrove. Most outsiders will invariably get stuck in the mud and have to get pulled out. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Jefferson Muñoz blows into a torch made out of coconut husks. The torches blow smoke for hours repelling the vicious mosquitoes and black flies of the mangrove. Insect repellent only repels insects for a few minutes after application. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Shell pickers have traditionally worked barefoot. In the past years, however, most people use rubber boots and gloves to protect themselves from toadfish and water snakes living in the mud of the mangroves. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
A group of kids come back from picking shells a couple of hours before the adults in order to make it to school in the afternoon. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014
The children that live in the Reserve are extremely agile. They effortlessly climb from branch to branch and navigate through the infinite spider web of roots. Their spryness makes them very efficient shell pickers. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Children splash around the water of the mangrove before boarding the boat to go back to the community. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014
Cesar Castro and Olger Grueso goof around in the mangrove while taking a rest from picking shells.
Even though black shells are a culinary delicacy in Ecuador, shell pickers are only paid 8 cents of a dollar per shell. On average, pickers will find between 50 and 100 shells in a day´s work.
Children climb on the roots of the mangrove in the Cayapas Mataje Reserve. They are the tallest mangroves in the world. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2013.
Julio Banguera has 4 brothers and sisters, 1 of which picks shells.
A group of girls play on top of a capsized boat on dry land. According to local health authorities, children make up to 70% of the population in the Mangrove Reserve. Tambillo, Ecuador. 2014
Alejandra Bones has 3 brothers and sisters. She is the only one of her siblings that picks shells to contribute to the family´s income. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Paula Grueso struggles to walk across a patch of soft mud. Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Elisa Castillo takes a break from picking shells in the Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve. 2013.
Elisa Castillo takes a break from picking shells in the Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve. 2010.
The mangroves of the Cayapas Mataje Reserve in northwestern Ecuador are the tallest in the world. Their shapes and size are breathtaking. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2014.
Cesar Castro has 7 brothers and sisters. He is the only one of his siblings to pick shells to contribute to his family´s income. Cayapas Mataje Reserve, Ecuador. 2013.
Bio
Felipe Jácome is a documentary photographer born in Ecuador. After finishing his studies at the Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics, his work has focused on issues of human mobility and human rights. In 2010 he won the Young Reporter Competition of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Jacome’s photos have appeared in publications such as National Geographic, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy Magazine, The Guardian, Vice Magazine, and CNN.
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Felipe Jacome
I like the project, I’d be interested to see this in colour but imagine it works best like this. The extended childhood that we experience in the west must be a new thing. I don’t know about these kids but I spent sometime with cattle herders in Tanzania and it seemed like a wonderful childhood.
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I find the images to be elegantly composed. They tell a story I may or may not have heard about previously but if so, this brought it home and made it real.
Two things bother me. First, the flatness of the images. Personally, I would find them stronger and more compelling if they had a little more snap in them.
Second, and out of control of the photographer, is the way the Burn site now handles the cover image. To see a blow up on it, I must click the image TWICE and then back click out of it to go on to the remainder of the essay. This is an unnecessary distraction that disrupts the flow of the essay. The idea of providing a link to thumbnails leading to a version that includes additional images edited out of the main presentation could be good, but such a link would be much less disruptive if subtly placed at the bottom of the essay.