Jason Houston

Photographer

Last Wildest Place (VISURA)

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Focus: Photographer, Photojournalist, Filmmaker, Journalist, Editor, Videographer, Health, Travel, Video Editor, Environment, Science, Documentary, Multimedia, Video, Film, Photo Editor, Photography, Art Director, Foreign, Culture, Director of Photography, Visuals Editor, Journalist Investigative, Freelance, Humanitarian, Opinions, Impact, Assignments, Communications, Conservationist, Cinematography, Strategic Outreach , Fellow, Consultant, Visual Communications , Human Rights, Investigation, International, Advisory, Creative Professional, Multidisciplinary Artist, Short Films, Multimedia Journalist, Senior Photo Editor, Magazine, Editorial, Photo Shoots, Editing, Storyteller, Visual Artist, Climate, Advocacy, Advisor, Investigative Reporter, Visual Editor, Feature Journalist, Opinion Journalism, Lifestyle Journalism, Digital Journalism, Print Journalism, International Photo Editor, Editor at Large, Special Projects, Feature Stories, Environmental Stories, International Stories, Wildspaces, Conservation, Sustainable Travel, Outdoor adventure, National Park stories, Audio Visuals, Still Photographer, Visual Producer, Visuals Producer, Content Creation, Digital Media Production, Photo Director, Portrait Photography, Social Justice

Clients: The Nature Conservancy, The New York Times, WWF, MongaBay, USAID

School: University of California, Santa Barbara Humboldt State University

Linder Miques Viquia, Sepahua C...tiple critical protected areas.

Linder Miques Viquia, Sepahua Community Vigilance Committee Member patrolling the upper Sepahua River, Peru where illegal land grab schemes are leading to rapid deforestation threatening the indigenous communities and unparalleled biodiversity of multiple critical protected areas.

Workers loading lumber on a tru...ted at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Workers loading lumber on a truck at the port in Pucallpa on the Ucayali River in Peru. Pucallpa is well known as one of the centers for trafficking illegal lumber out of the Upper Amazon and a few weeks before this photograph the local paper reported that 4 million board feet of illegal lumber was confiscated at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Logs arriving at the sawmills a...ted at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Logs arriving at the sawmills at the port in Pucallpa on the Ucayali River in Peru. Pucallpa is well known as one of the centers for trafficking illegal lumber out of the Upper Amazon and a few weeks before this photograph the local paper reported that 4 million board feet of illegal lumber was confiscated at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Aerial view of an approaching s...flying, single engine airplane.

Aerial view of an approaching storm over the vast roadless forests of the Alto Purús region in Peru. The Purús/Manu complex in southeastern Peru including two national parks, multiple indigneious reserves, and other protected areas is one of the most remote, inaccessible, and important areas of the Amazon, where still-intact ecosystems provide sustenance for indigenous communities and is home to some of the last isolated “uncontacted” tribes on earth. Photographed from a low-flying, single engine airplane.

A jaguar pelt selling for S/.30... as he showed us various items.

A jaguar pelt selling for S/.300 (approximately US$90) found in Mercado Dos in Pucallpa. Pucallpa is the capital of the Ucayali region and a main hub for many things passing in and out of the western Amazon. We saw other pelts in his stall and asked what else he had for sale, photographing as he showed us various items.

Girl at the port in Puerto Espe...hartered flights from Pucallpa.

Girl at the port in Puerto Esperanza, Purús Province, Peru. The larger of the remote towns like Puerto Esperanza are the weak bridge between the even more remote indigenous villages and the rest of the world. They have mediocre healthcare, remedial education, infrequently replenished and limited provisions, few economic opportunities, and usually at least several western religious denominations vying for their souls. Some connect to the outside world by incomplete roads, others by rivers so long and so winding that travel on them is measured in days or even months, and distances determined in 'turns' instead of kilometers. The 1500 people in Puerto Esperanza connect to their nearest urban neighbor, Santa Rosa in Brazil, via several days by boat down the Purús River. Some of the goods that stock the few small stores here come from Santa Rosa, though most come in on the much more expensive (and are more expensive because of it) chartered flights from Pucallpa.

The Catholic church in Puerto E...ich he broadcasts his messages.

The Catholic church in Puerto Esperanza has adopted effigies of local 'natives' including a mostly naked altar server and a baptismal font in the shape of a canoe. The local priest at the Catholic Church is an outspoken proponent of the road. The church even has its own radio tower from which he broadcasts his messages.

Young boy with temporary face t...Mashco Piro Indigenous Reserve.

Young boy with temporary face tattoos (made using botanicals including huito) outside his home in Santa Rey, Peru on the Curanja River near the limit of the Purús Communal Reserve. Remote indigenous communities like Santa Rey and the communal reserves set up for their subsistence use serve as buffers for and gateways to more strictly protected areas such as the Alto Purús National Park and Mashco Piro Indigenous Reserve.

Miluska with pet howler monkey ...ey first settled after contact.

Miluska with pet howler monkey in Nueva Victoria II, Yurúa River, Ucayali Province, Peru. Miluska's Chitonahua tribal group lives in initial contact in their own community of Nueva Victoria II. named after the Ashaninka community of Nueva Victoria where they first settled after contact.

Remote indigenous tribal villag...Victoria II, Yurúa River, Peru.

Remote indigenous tribal villages rely on a mix of chaotic (but intentional) polyculture (yucca shown here) and hunting/gathering. The Chitonahua community of Victoria II was first contacted in the mid-1990s by loggers and soon after by Catholic missionaries. Their experience with the loggers was essentially one of slavery, with men forced to work in exchange for basic food and things like clothing they didn't want. Attempts to escape were met with violence. Illness also followed, as it usually does, and then conflicts with other recently contacted tribes. In the early 2000's they left and settled Victoria II. Victoria II, Yurúa River, Peru.

Weaving thatch in Dulce Gloria,...ulce Gloria, Yurúa River, Peru.

Weaving thatch in Dulce Gloria, an Ashéninka community far up the Yurúa River from Puerto Breu, Peru. Dulce Gloria does well in comparison with its neighbors. The village is relitively clean, they have several functional schools and a health clinic, and even a generator that provides some electricity at times. Dulce Gloria, Yurúa River, Peru.

Nuevo Eden, a Ashéninka village... Nuevo Eden, Yurúa River, Peru.

Nuevo Eden, a Ashéninka village far up the Yurúa River, has several families with direct experience with isolated tribes. Nuevo Eden, Yurúa River, Peru.

A family eats a land tortoise c...xperience with isolated tribes.

A family eats a land tortoise cooked in its shell while one of the women plucks a jungle fowl. Nuevo Eden, a Ashéninka village far up the Yurúa River, has several families with direct experience with isolated tribes.

Cleaning a small forest parrot ...wn community Nueva Victoria II.

Cleaning a small forest parrot in preparation for a meal. This Chitonahua tribal group was contacted in the mid-1990s by loggers working illegally in their territory. Men were forced into debt and forced to work it off, essentially in a form of indentured servitude. In the early 2000's they escaped and ultimately were granted permission to settle near the Ashaninka community of Nueva Victoria where they named their own community Nueva Victoria II.

[NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST] in N...g and other manufactured items.

[NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST] in Nueva Victoria II on the Yurua River, Peru, was attacked by a jaguar while working night watch in a logging camp. In the confusion the jaguar dropped him and dragged off a bloody backpack instead of him, which spared his life. The Chitonahua tribal group he lives with were forcibly contacted in the mid 1990’s by mahogany loggers who grew tired of the Chitonahua raiding their camps. Jorge lost his eye to a shotgun blast during one such raid. The Peruvian government considers the Chitonahua and a handful of other tribes as being in initial contact with the outside world. Their lives are a mix traditional customs and beliefs with modern ones like selling crops for money needed to purchase western clothing and other manufactured items.

A man searches for his keys dro...s-a-week flights from Pucallpa.

A man searches for his keys dropped in the water and mud at the port on the river in Puerto Breu, Ucayali region, Peru. The 500 people in Puerto Breu connect to their nearest neighbor, the also mostly-unconnected but slightly larger Marechal Thaumaturgo in Brazil, via 9 hours by boat down the Yurúa. It’s where most of the goods that stock the 5 small stores here come from as it’s easier—and a lot cheaper—than flying goods in on the couple-times-a-week flights from Pucallpa.

Jorge, chief of a Chitonahua co...g and other manufactured items.

Jorge, chief of a Chitonahua community in initial contact on the upper Yurúa, Peru applies traditional achiote die to his face. The Chitonahua were forcibly contacted in the mid 1990’s by mahogany loggers who grew tired of the Chitonahua raiding their camps. Jorge lost his eye to a shotgun blast during one such raid. The Peruvian government considers the Chitonahua and a handful of other tribes as being in initial contact with the outside world. Their lives are a mix traditional customs and beliefs with modern ones like selling crops for money needed to purchase western clothing and other manufactured items.

Returning from the river with a...idely with the local community.

Returning from the river with a large catfish in Puerto Breu, Ucayali region, Peru. This catch, like most such windfall harvests in these small tribally-organized communities, will be shared widely with the local community.

Waiting on the plane in Puerto ...ities in the Alto Purús region.

Waiting on the plane in Puerto Esperanza, Peru. Located in a remote southeastern corner of Peru against the border with Brazil and surrounded by protected areas, Puerto Esperanza is both isolated as well as a hub for goods and services for the even more remote indigenous communities in the Alto Purús region.

Shuri lives in the Purús Commun...Piro known to live in the area.

Shuri lives in the Purús Communal Reserve on the Purús River, Peru and is a liaison between the Isolated Indigenous Tribes and the modern world. In part because this is one of the few places in the world where isolated people still exist, he is one of the few examples in the world that continues to live in both. Shuri, his two wives, and a mother in-law were found dead in 2020, full of arrows likely from uncontacted Mashco - Piro known to live in the area.

Maria, a Chitonahua woman in in...Piro known to live in the area.

Maria, a Chitonahua woman in initial contact in the Purús Communal Reserve on the upper Curanja River, Peru, spends her days hanging around her makeshift camp behind a government control post near the Mashco - Piro Indigenous Reserve where she begs for food and medicine from guards and nearby villagers. The government's policy is to provide only minimal support to people in initial contact in order to prevent dependency, leaving people like Maria alone to navigate the assimilation process. Maria, her sister wife, Shuri, her husband, and a mother in-law were found dead in 2020, full of arrows likely from uncontacted Mashco - Piro known to live in the area.

Butchering a tapir in a canoe o...edicines to building materials.

Butchering a tapir in a canoe on the Curanja River in Balta, Ucayali region, Peru. Remote indigenous villages in the Alto Purús region in southeastern Peru rely on the wild diversity of the forrest for everything from food and traditional medicines to building materials.

Evening family time in the remo...us village of Colombiana, Peru.

Evening family time in the remote indigenous village of Colombiana, Peru.

Boy with toy gun in Colombiana,...l culture and western progress.

Boy with toy gun in Colombiana, Ucayali Province, Peru. The remote indigenous communities of Alto Purús region live in the difficult midst of traditional culture and western progress.

Afternoon futbol in Miguel Grau...for moving through the forests.

Afternoon futbol in Miguel Grau near the confluence of the Purús and Curanja Rivers in Ucayali Province in southeastern Peru. Communities that live near river confluences and along tributaries in the remote upper Amazon often have interactions with migrating isolated tribes who also use the waterways for moving through the forests.

Evening traffic in front of som...hartered flights from Pucallpa.

Evening traffic in front of some small shops in Puerto Esperanza, Peru. The larger of the remote towns like Puerto Esperanza are the weak bridge between the even more remote indigenous villages and the rest of the world. They have mediocre healthcare, remedial education, infrequently replenished and limited provisions, few economic opportunities, and usually at least several western religious denominations vying for their souls. Some connect to the outside world by incomplete roads, others by rivers so long and so winding that travel on them is measured in days or even months, and distances determined by 'turns' instead of kilometers. The 1500 people in Puerto Esperanza connect to their nearest urban neighbor, Santa Rosa in Brazil, via several days by boat down the Purús River. Some of the goods that stock the few small stores here come from Santa Rosa, though most come in on the much more expensive (and are more expensive because of it) chartered flights from Pucallpa.

Stars in a near perfectly dark ...s of the Alto Purús region are.

Stars in a near perfectly dark sky over a remote indigenous village on the Purús River in Brazil on the border of Peru show how remote some areas of the Alto Purús region are.

The charred hind quarter of an ...l government or charter planes.

The charred hind quarter of an endangered black spider monkey hangs at a butcher in Puerto Esperanza, Purús Province, Peru. Puerto Esperanza is the remote capital of the Purús region where indigenous culture and subsistence lifestyles mix with western progress. No roads connect it and there are few regular commercial flights—access is by river or the occasional government or charter planes.

Marcelino Pinedo Cecilio's...nalists—who continue the trend.

Marcelino Pinedo Cecilio's community was first contacted in the 1950s by an anthropologist when he was a child. Soon after, many in his community developed sore throats and fevers, and Marcelino says many died from what would have been common western diseases as a result of this contact. This dynamic of contact, disease, and then death too often defines the relationships between indigenous Amazonian people and outsiders, starting with the first Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 16th century and continuing today with missionaries, loggers, drug traffickers—and too-eager journalists—who continue the trend.

Leaving for a half-day hunting ...d Murunahua Indigenous Reserve.

Leaving for a half-day hunting and gathering trip through an area cleared for subsistence agriculture near the remote village of Selva Virgen on the remote upper Yurúa River, Peru. Remote indigenous communities like Selva Virgen are the gateways to—and stewards of—more strictly protected areas such as the Alto Purús National Park and Murunahua Indigenous Reserve.

Taracaya turtle eggs collected ...on the upper Yurúa River, Peru.

Taracaya turtle eggs collected on a half-day hunting and gathering trip near Selva Virgen near the border of the Murunahua Reserve on the upper Yurúa River, Peru.

Aerial drone photograph showing... on gold mining in this region.

Aerial drone photograph showing the extent of the deforestation and environmental impact from illegal and unregulated alluvial gold mining in the tropical forests of the Madre de Dios region in Southeastern Peru. The La Pampa ‘scar’ covers approximately 40,000 hectares where miners tapped local rivers and wetlands to liquify and sort soil to extract gold within what was some of the most biodiverse forests in the world. The illicit industry also drives a host of humanitarian crises including slavery, sex trafficking, health related environmental justice, and indigenous rights violations. In February 2019, Peru assigned 1500 police and military personnel to the La Pampa region in a historic crackdown on gold mining in this region.

Want ads in La Pampa, Peru for ... or abducted into prostitution.

Want ads in La Pampa, Peru for women to work in the service industries. In the unofficial town of La Pampa, crime and illegal activities beyond illegal gold mining include blackmarket goods, prostitution, slavery, and human trafficking. Want ads like these are often used to lure in women in search of work to remote locations where they can be coerced or abducted into prostitution.

An ocelot killed by new settler...have lived there for millennia.

An ocelot killed by new settlers on the upper Inuya River, Peru, because they said 'they were afraid’. These invaders, many in this area arriving from coca-growing regions in the Andean foothills to the west, are less connected to and less invested in any type of ecological balance with the lowland jungles than the indigenous groups who have lived there for millennia.

Jovita Rengifo Cobos's fro...has defined life in the Amazon.

Jovita Rengifo Cobos's from Imaculada on the Inuya River in Peru tells how her parents grew up enslaved in the rubber and agriculture booms of the early 1900's that spread across the amazon, forced to work growing barbasco—the common name of several plants that contain poisonous chemical compounds used for fishing by indigenous populations and that became important to the pharmaceuticals industry. From gold and the earliest Spanish and Portuguese explorers; to rubber and animal skins in the early 1900s; to oil and gas, timber, cattle, and cocaine today, access to and the extraction of natural resources at the expense of the indigenous populations and the ecosystems they rely on has defined life in the Amazon.

Carlitos (name unverified and l...ing coca deeper in the forests.

Carlitos (name unverified and likely false) and his family are new arrivals from the coca-growing highlands to the west and are moving in on land they have freshly cleared for agriculture on the upper Sepahua River, Peru. These plots, increasing in numbers almost daily, are illegal, unknown and unrecognized by officials, and mostly for small farms that appear to be fronts for growing coca deeper in the forests.

Aerial drone photograph of defo...watershed in southeastern Peru.

Aerial drone photograph of deforestation for agriculture near Santa Isabelle de Sepahua, Sepahua River, Peru. In the past year, new deforestation has been showing up in satellite imagery along remote tributaries in the Urubamba watershed in southeastern Peru.

A family from the valley of the...ough illegal land grab schemes.

A family from the valley of the three rivers Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro (aka, VRAEM or VRAE)—one of the main areas for cultivation of coca in Peru—arriving to establish a new settlement on the Sepahua River. Families such as this one are driven out of VRAEM as authorities crack down on illegal drug production and are moving into the remote lowland jungles, often staking claim to plots of land through illegal land grab schemes.

Coca leaves for sale at the por...or crops) and illegal industry.

Coca leaves for sale at the port in Atalaya, Peru. Coca is a familiar traditional medicine chewed to relieve hunger and fatigue and to enhance physical performance, as well as for stimulating stomach function, treating asthma, colds, and other ailments. The leaves are found for sale in many small shops and markets in Peru from the Andes down into the upper Amazon basin. Cultivation for cocaine production also drives a powerful and environmentally destructive (i.e., clearing remote forests for crops) and illegal industry.

A monkey skull found in a mud b... River, Atalaya Province, Peru.

A monkey skull found in a mud bank on the Mapuya River, Atalaya Province, Peru.

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Thumbnail of Linder Miques Viquia, Sepahua Co_ltiple critical protected areas.

Thumbnail of Workers loading lumber on a truc_ated at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Thumbnail of Logs arriving at the sawmills at_ated at eight Pucallpa sawmills.

Thumbnail of Aerial view of an approaching st_-flying, single engine airplane.

Thumbnail of A jaguar pelt selling for S/.300_g as he showed us various items.

Thumbnail of Girl at the port in Puerto Esper_chartered flights from Pucallpa.

Thumbnail of The Catholic church in Puerto Es_hich he broadcasts his messages.

Thumbnail of Young boy with temporary face ta_ Mashco Piro Indigenous Reserve.

Thumbnail of Miluska with pet howler monkey i_hey first settled after contact.

Thumbnail of Remote indigenous tribal village_ Victoria II, Yurúa River, Peru.

Thumbnail of Weaving thatch in Dulce Gloria, _Dulce Gloria, Yurúa River, Peru.

Thumbnail of Nuevo Eden, a Ashéninka village _. Nuevo Eden, Yurúa River, Peru.

Thumbnail of A family eats a land tortoise co_experience with isolated tribes.

Thumbnail of Cleaning a small forest parrot i_own community Nueva Victoria II.

Thumbnail of [NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST] in Nu_ng and other manufactured items.

Thumbnail of A man searches for his keys drop_es-a-week flights from Pucallpa.

Thumbnail of Jorge, chief of a Chitonahua com_ng and other manufactured items.

Thumbnail of Returning from the river with a _widely with the local community.

Thumbnail of Waiting on the plane in Puerto E_nities in the Alto Purús region.

Thumbnail of Shuri lives in the Purús Communa_ Piro known to live in the area.

Thumbnail of Maria, a Chitonahua woman in ini_ Piro known to live in the area.

Thumbnail of Butchering a tapir in a canoe on_medicines to building materials.

Thumbnail of Evening family time in the remot_ous village of Colombiana, Peru.

Thumbnail of Boy with toy gun in Colombiana, _al culture and western progress.

Thumbnail of Afternoon futbol in Miguel Grau _ for moving through the forests.

Thumbnail of Evening traffic in front of some_chartered flights from Pucallpa.

Thumbnail of Stars in a near perfectly dark s_as of the Alto Purús region are.

Thumbnail of The charred hind quarter of an e_al government or charter planes.

Thumbnail of Marcelino Pinedo Cecilio's _rnalists—who continue the trend.

Thumbnail of Leaving for a half-day hunting a_nd Murunahua Indigenous Reserve.

Thumbnail of Taracaya turtle eggs collected o_ on the upper Yurúa River, Peru.

Thumbnail of Aerial drone photograph showing _n on gold mining in this region.

Thumbnail of Want ads in La Pampa, Peru for w_d or abducted into prostitution.

Thumbnail of An ocelot killed by new settlers_ have lived there for millennia.

Thumbnail of Jovita Rengifo Cobos's from_ has defined life in the Amazon.

Thumbnail of Carlitos (name unverified and li_wing coca deeper in the forests.

Thumbnail of Aerial drone photograph of defor_ watershed in southeastern Peru.

Thumbnail of A family from the valley of the _rough illegal land grab schemes.

Thumbnail of Coca leaves for sale at the port_for crops) and illegal industry.

Thumbnail of A monkey skull found in a mud ba_a River, Atalaya Province, Peru.

Public Project

Last Wildest Place (VISURA)

Date of Work Mar 2015 - Ongoing

Updated Feb 2022

Location Alto Purús Peru

Topics Amazon, Black and White, Climate, Climate Change, Conflict, Conservation, Cultural heritage, Culture, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Forest, Human Rights, Indigenous rights, International Stories, Latin America, Personal Projects, Photography, Photojournalism, Social Justice, World heritage

Last Wildest Place is a collaborative, unapologetically cause-driven project recognizing a simple, essential fact: The Amazon Matters. Working with Upper Amazon Conservancy I am seeking artistic, journalistic, and advocacy opportunities to help support through my photography ongoing efforts to protect this globally-critical landscape in the face of myriad and constantly evolving threats to the social, cultural, and environmental fabric of this unique place.

Covering over a billion acres, it is bigger than the next two largest tropical rainforests combined and alone accounts for half the world’s remaining rainforest, as much as 30% of all terrestrial species, 20% of the world's fresh water, and 20% of our global oxygen. It provides climate stability for the entire planet—and the carbon sequestered in its forests and released by their deforestation matters to us all.

The Purús/Manu region in southeastern Peru is one of the most remote, inaccessible, and important areas of the Amazon, where still-intact natural ecosystems provide sustenance for settled indigenous communities and home to perhaps the highest concentration of isolated “uncontacted” tribes on Earth. While still largely undeveloped, this last wildest place is increasingly threatened by the usual deforestation drivers including logging, mining, oil and gas development, cattle grazing, coca cultivation, agricultural expansion, and both legal and illegal road construction projects that open up previously inaccessible forests to all these pressures with devastating and irrevocable impacts on the ecosystems and all who depend on this last wildest place.

I first experienced the Purús/Manu region in 2015, and have since returned a dozen times spending close to a year total photographing its various and complicated issues. It is important to point out that we recognize the tragic histories of colonialism across the entire Amazon and so issues such as appropriate authorship, just representation, and agency vs. appropriation drive our collaborations with the communities we’ve worked with for years. The last trip at the end of 2019 was to some of the most remote western headwaters documenting illegal narco land-grabs and the fight for indigenous sovereignty. While this is an ongoing project, access has been severely—and appropriately—restricted by the pandemic including multiple canceled trips in 2020 and 2021. We are planning several visits in 2022, pandemic pending.

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