As a general rule, Peruvians don't like to have their photos taken. They believe the camera steals their souls. It is important for a photographer to respect that belief. The only thing is, for about one dollar, the camera ceases to steal souls, and generates one hell of a phony grin from the subject, and in turn a rather lousy staged photo. The word in Spanish is "propina" or tip, and I heard it more times than I care to recall. If you don't pay your subject a "propina", you inadvertently turn on the soul sucking power of your camera, and you had better watch out. I myself paid people for their time when they seemed clearly to be in need. At other times I refused to play this ridiculous game, but not without consequence. In each of pictures posted above something was hurled in my direction. From top to bottom: a bag of nuts, a sombrero, a handful of rocks. Not pictured here are an empty bottle, a cane, and a drunken man on a horse who chased my taxi out of town. I met many great people on my trip, unfortunately I think tourism has spoiled a handful of Peru's most visited cities.
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