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  Not far from Christian’s Sagarnaga outpost is the lustrous little shop of Cecibel Martinez. Cecibel was born in La Paz, but her father is from Potosí and her mother is from Caiza. Cecibel sells (mostly silver) antiques, but she comes from a long line of silver craftsmen. Her maternal great grandfather was in the silver business in the mid-1800s and made things like spoons and platters. While once there was a great demand for these kinds of products—apparently the spoons were used not for eating, but to decorate llamas for fiestas (duh)—Cecibel says that no one does this kind of work in Caiza anymore. The proud inheritor of a great family tradition, Cecibel has this 1972 photograph showing her mother and grandparents selling silver on the sidewalk of La Paz taped to the wall of her store. She herself has been in the silver business for over 30 years.

Photography by Szymon Kochański