“Excuse My Reach” explores the socioeconomic impacts of tourism in Patagonia, Chile, as well as the environmental pressures and vulnerabilities that tourism actively imposes on the region. I foreground the subtle, often overlooked dimensions of everyday life for locals employed in tourism, wildlife, and the cumulative environmental transformations that result from sustained tourist presence.

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I address the two major fires in the Torres del Paine National Park—one in 2005 and another in 2011—both accidentally ignited by visitors and each destroying tens of thousands of hectares of protected land. These incidents underscore the balance between the region’s economic dependence on tourism and its ecological fragility.

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The region’s dramatic and remote landscapes draw international attention, shaping livelihoods while also contributing to environmental risk. I observe myself within this dynamic — implicated in the patterns I document. The work becomes an examination of the ethical instability of trying to critique an industry from which I personally benefit.