Bolivian boy turns photographer on iconic salt flats - with help from a dinosaur

Piter Condori takes photos of tourists behind a toy dinosaur for a fee at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. On the otherworldly white salt flats of Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, an 11-year Piter Condori has become a photography success taking quirky and creative pictures of tourists - with a bit of help from a blue plastic dinosaur toy.

Piter Condori, takes pictures of tourists to earn money for his family at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. Piter Condori uses an unusual trick of perspective on the iconic salt flats, where the even white ground stretches to the horizon, allowing skilful snappers to make small objects close to the camera appear much larger and further away.

Women in Cholita dresses pose for photos, at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.

Tourists walk in front of a structure made of salt, at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.

Tourists line up for a photo, at the Uyuni Salt Flat.

Diego Condori and his son Piter Condori, shovel salt, from which the family makes a living, at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. In his free time on the weekend, Piter takes photos of the Spinosaurus appearing to chase and attack tourists across the white plains.

Condori said this helps get him extra pocket money and to help his parents buy food, which has got pricier amid high inflation. Tourism meanwhile has declined in recent years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I help to buy onions, potatoes, and lettuce. I buy clothes for my brothers and toys. When they need school supplies. I give them money for playtime so they can buy things," said Condori, who can earn between $9-15 each day he takes photos.

The Uyuni salt flats in southern Bolivia is one of the Andean country's top tourist attractions. The vast area is also a trove of electric vehicle battery metal lithium, though there is little production and few economic benefits so far.

Piter Condori takes pictures of a tourist at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.

Piter Condori, instructs a tourist how to pose while taking pictures at the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia.

Two thousand Bolivian tourism operators nationwide are pushing the government to relax restrictions on international tourism. The Bolivian Chamber of Hotels and Tourism says the pandemic has cut tourism in the country by 90%.