High in the hill between Maraval and Diego Martin, hidden from the capital city of Port-of-Spain floats the often mist shrouded herb gardens of Trinidad's 'almost' alpine villages in the elevated communities of Paramin.
These pictures of Paramin tell a story of a farming community with deep Spanish roots, as seen in the faces of people like Augustine, pictured here at 92 years young still hard at work in her garden. This is where homes perch on mountaintops, market gardens cling to steep slopes, and the rarefied air is filled with the aroma of thyme and chives, and the sweet sound of Parang music.
There is an intimacy in these photographs that comes from understanding your subject and befriending the people you shoot. Only in this way can you capture people being them selves as well as Joanne de Boehmler did in this short photo essay. It's a gift she gives both the people she photographs and those who see the images she shoots.
So when you are on jeep tours taking pictures of Paramin, or anywhere else in Trinidad and Tobago for that matter, remember this secret and be inspired by Joanne's memorable photographs.
