Community life in Ecuador

Anthropologist professor Caroline Moser spent eight and a half months in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil in 1978. It was the first of many visits as Moser began to chart the development of the community. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Moser wanted to live alongside the 244 households that she studied in depth. Her husband and two children lived in Guayaquil with her as she began her research. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Moser's book, Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Lives, was written as a result of her relationship with the community. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Between 1978 and 2004, Moser returned to the slum settlement of Indio Guayas 10 times, seeing changes in the way people lived. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk On each visit she stayed for more than a month. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Cooking on a kerosene stove inside a bamboo home. Photograph: Brian Moser Photograph: Brian Moser/guardian.co.uk Water floods in to the slum. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Picking the way along a path connecting houses. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Walking over the swamp. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Moser - now director of Manchester University's global urban research centre - wanted to take a long-term perspective with her work. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Over almost three decades, many changes took place. These included electricity, running water and houses made of cement blocks instead of bamboo. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk "Materially, these families are a lot better off than they were in the 70s," says Moser. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Lives is published by Brookings Press of Washington DC. Photograph: Brian/Caroline Moser Photograph: guardian.co.uk