02_Vicunha_Atacama Desert 60x40cm

Vicuñas of the High Andes — Wild Elegance in the Altiplano

Photographed in 2010 during two journeys through the Atacama Desert and the high Andes of northern Chile, this work captures the natural presence of wild vicuñas along the remote roads of the Altiplano.

Unlike the llama, which became a domestic animal of the Andean world, the vicuña remains wild, delicate, alert, and perfectly adapted to life at high altitude. Seen in small groups beside the road, these animals move through the open landscape with extraordinary elegance, surrounded by volcanic horizons, dry grasses, mineral colors, and the silence of the mountains.

Vicuñas usually live in family groups formed by females and their young, under the constant vigilance of a territorial male. This male controls the group, watches the surroundings, and defends the territory against intruders — a behavior that can often be observed in the high Andes, where the herd appears calm, but always attentive to movement and distance.

In these photographs, the vicuñas are not staged or approached artificially. They were photographed as part of the natural rhythm of the Andean landscape — free, cautious, and integrated into one of the most extreme environments in South America.

Part of the Atacama 2010 — Desert of Light and Silence collection, these images celebrate the fragile beauty of wildlife in the Altiplano and the rare harmony between animal life, altitude, light, and silence.