Sweet River; True Peace. is a visual collection of stories highlighting a group of indigenous peoples that continue to preserver despite facing many obstacles. Following the Maya Q’eqchi’, the body of work calls to attention a group of people that, despite facing a history of conquest, religion-based oppression, genocide and extreme impoverishment, maintain their strong cultural identity. In a rapidly changing world that persuades all people to assimilate, Sweet River; True Peace. argues for the importance of maintaining autonomy and cultural identity. Photographing almost entirely analogically, the negatives of the series are developed onsite using homemade Caffenol-C developer. The development process takes place often in unstable environments with rapid drops in temperature and water scarcity being common factors. Further, the time to dry can last up to three days because of the intense humidity. The flaws resulting from these environmental issues are embraced as parts of the overall compositions themselves. The decision to develop onsite and embrace the supposed flaws has allowed for the film to not only be exposed to the light captured in the photographs, but the air, water, and physical touch of the people. These additional traces of interactions with the local environment and people lend the imagery a strong physicality and closeness to the world of which these images belong to.Throughout the photographic process, great care is placed in acquiring photographic permissions from those who are represented and/or their guardians. The work is ongoing and collaborative, encouraging participants to assist in the development as well as interact with the film as it dries in their homes. The film is then scanned as color negatives, creating various color casts. These color casts often reflect those found in the traditional wear of the indigenous Q'eqchi', and have thus been incorporated. For exhibition, Sweet River; True Peace. has been printed and explored through various different techniques, including: tintype (wet plate collodion), tape image transfers, and platinum-palladium gold printing. The explorations in these techniques play with the question of inherent value and aim to elevate the undervalued population. Through the juxtaposition of images in cheaper materials such as tape with those of highly archival and valuable prints, the interpretation of what holds value is held to question and reevaluation.