Vilcabamba: a story on lifestyle migration
Gray, Angie (2026)
2026
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2026051612740
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2026051612740
Tiivistelmä
This photographic project explores the phenomenon of lifestyle migration by documenting how it plays out in Vilcabamba, a rural town in the Ecuadorean Andes.
The project is structured in two parts. The first part consists of theoretical approaches to lifestyle migration, highlighting notions of power and privilege, and discusses how Vilcabamba has been affected due to the influx of lifestyle migrants. It also discusses my role as a documentary photographer through the process of the project and my family’s connection to Vilcabamba.
The second part of the project captures the lives and stories of lifestyle migrants living in Vilcabamba through documentary photography and interviews. This part is structured as an in-depth photographic story, highlighting the various reasons people have for migrating to Vilcabamba.
By bringing theoretical approaches and documentary photography together, this project aims to bring a deeper understanding of lifestyle migration, exploring ways to grasp this social phenomenon that is becoming increasingly common through in-depth visual storytelling.
The project is structured in two parts. The first part consists of theoretical approaches to lifestyle migration, highlighting notions of power and privilege, and discusses how Vilcabamba has been affected due to the influx of lifestyle migrants. It also discusses my role as a documentary photographer through the process of the project and my family’s connection to Vilcabamba.
The second part of the project captures the lives and stories of lifestyle migrants living in Vilcabamba through documentary photography and interviews. This part is structured as an in-depth photographic story, highlighting the various reasons people have for migrating to Vilcabamba.
By bringing theoretical approaches and documentary photography together, this project aims to bring a deeper understanding of lifestyle migration, exploring ways to grasp this social phenomenon that is becoming increasingly common through in-depth visual storytelling.