Here's an interesting project undertaken by Rodrigo Abd, an Argentine photographer with AP currently based in Guatemala. He traveled to Coban to document the indigenous women competing to become this year’s National Indigenous Queen of Guatemala. The event was held during the Rabin Ajau National Folkloric Festival in Coban, Guatemala.
Abd used a 19th century style wooden box camera he had bought in Afghanistan, which required the women to hold still for up to two minutes as Abd exposed the images directly onto photo paper. The photo paper is plunged into the developer then into a fixer liquid inside the camera body. A negative image of his subjects appears. Later on, he photographed these negatives to produce the positive versions.
“It’s about having this connection with people I’m portraying because they have to be totally quiet and spend some time only with me, looking at me with my camera.”
This project certainly attracted the attention of the blogosphere, as it appeared on OregonLive.com (much larger photographs) of The Oregonian, and in The Guardian.
Everyone should study Spanish. Everyone. And the place to go is Guatemala, where you can spend about $125 for room/board AND 20 hours of private instruction.
About a decade ago, I went to Quetzaltenango (Xela) and studied Spanish two weeks at Juan Sisay School. Better place for it than the more popular Antigua in my opinion -- Spanish-colonial town surrounded by volcanoes, witch villages, rum-drinking saints and hot springs. A far fewer gringos to tempt you back into English. The school, like many there, organizes volunteer programs to help local Mayan kids learn English. One night we put on a play for them, with the mixed-bag of foreigners playing the animals of the jungle. I was the sloth.
As readers of this blog know, I'm a proselytizer of large photographs for websites portfolios, and have made this preference very obvious through various postings and with my own photographic galleries. I cannot understand photographers who still exhibit dinky small photographs on their websites...in my view, they're not taking proper advantage of the medium.
So it's with pleasure that I feature Stephen Alvarez's Maya Underworld, a gallery of 22 large photographs for a story originally published by the National Geographic Magazine, and which showcases the religious rituals and ceremonies of today’s Mayan peoples in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. This is but one of Alvarez's of sensational galleries, so take a tour of his website as well.
Stephen Alvarez is a photojournalist who produces global stories about exploration, culture, religion, and the aftermath of conflict. He has been a National Geographic photographer since 1995. His work won awards in Pictures of the Year International, Communications Arts and was exhibited at Visa Pour L’Image International Photojournalism Festival.
Pablo Corral Vega is a photojournalist from Ecuador whose work is published in National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, the Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times Sunday magazine, Audubon, the French, German, Spanish, and Russian editions of Geo, and other international magazines.
His work has been exhibited in Perpignan, Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Tokyo, Seville, Washington, D.C., and Houston, and he has published six books of photography: Tierra Desnuda, Paisajes del Silencio, Ecuador: De la Magia al Espanto, Ecuador, Andes and Twenty Five. For the book Andes, published by the National Geographic Society, famed Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa wrote twenty short stories inspired by the photos.
It is Andes that I choose to feature today on the pages of TTP.
Kent Kobersteen, former Director of Photography for the National Geographic Magazine wrote the following text about Corral for his book "Twenty Five":
"Pablo Corral Vega brings to his photography great passion, an unparalleled aesthetic, and a high degree of concern for both his work and his subjects. (He) is a world-class photojournalist, and in my opinion one of the finest Latin American photographers working today." "
There's no question that Pablo Corral Vega's work is incredibly beautiful, and his imagery of the various cultures depicted in Andes is passionate, emphatic and in many cases, superb. The photograph of the man and the shadows is certainly one of those.
I also greatly enjoyed Pablo's video work showing the same places he photographed for the National Geographic. Yes, I recommend viewing Pablo's personal view of this musical genre and its associated sensuous dance form. But be careful...after viewing the video, you will want to book your flight to Buenos Aires, and spend the rest of your life in these cafes and restaurants, immersed in tango atmosphere.
I've gone a few miles over the years. And here are 44 little thingsabout travel I picked up on the way.
1. Wash your hands before you sleep, unless you don't mind it if cute rats lick your fingers clean. 2. When kindness comes from strangers, accept it. If you don't know if they expect a tip, you can offer one -- but don't insist when/if they refuse.
3. Animals will probably attack you if you try to give a Snickers to them. 4. It's wise to remember your passport. And don't pack it in a checked-in suitcase like Louisianan Trey Williams did going to that study-abroad program to St Petersburg during that 'first summer of Russia' (1992). 5. Try to accept all invitations -- you really should have time for that cup of tea the silver-haired couple offer you from the balcony in their summer home in Zakopane, or go camping with that Hungarian film crew at a Russian gulag. 6. Car passengers see less than bikers, bikers see less than walkers, walkers see less than stoppers -- ie those who stop and watch. 7. It's OK to have a Coke without ice. 8. It's OK to have beer with ice. 9. It's OK to use your hands to eat. 10. You don't HAVE to eat the larvae or crickets though. 11. Don't use middle finger to beckon locals, or indicate they're tops. 12. Ownership of stuff varies where you go. So when the Indian guy on the overnight bus from Udaipur to Delhi borrows your iPod without really asking, don't get mad, because when you're shivering later on he'll instinctively lend you half his blanket. 13. People without much education abroad often seem to be better educated than a lot of people back home. 14. Always shop for locally made stationary, and buy it when you see it -- it's rarer to find these days. 15. Pack quick-drying, if ugly, clothes but at least one sorda nice shirt so you can see the Budapest opera like I didn't. 16. It's OK to just want a damn hamburger or watch Pretty Woman on channel 31. 17. It's OK to get frustrated or mad sometimes, just try to keep it to yourself as much as you can. 18. No, you don't have to take a group tour, or have advance reservations. But it doesn't automatically make you a bad traveler if you do. 19. Too much hassle where you are? Look around. If you are in the majority -- as foreign traveler -- walk two blocks to another part of town, and get out of that tourist ghetto you're probably in. 20. It's OK to have an opinion of a place, but don't think you 'know' a place after spending two/15/306 days there. 21. Try a couple days without the camera or email. 22. Museums can be great, but are overrated as day-filler attractions. 23. Seeing movies and sports in foreign countries are underrated day-filler attractions. Like the time topless Guatemalan guys hugged me at a Mother's Day b-league soccer game in Xela as they tossed fireworks through the chain fence to police decked up like Storm Troopers. 24. It's OK to be uncomfortable, just be honest if something isn't right for you. 25. Italy is the Citizen Kane of the travel world. It gets all the accolades, and deserves them. 26. You can get as much out of a trip to Western Kansas as Laos. If you try. 27. Always go to visitors centers. Sometimes they give free cookies or popcorn, and the flirty staff sometimes invite you to go out and get drunk (nothing more), as they do in Bogotá. 28. Socks-with-sandals is underrated. 29. Buy a hat. Always buy a locally made hat. 30. Don't put all your expenses in one place -- hotel, hotel restaurant, hotel tours, hotel souvenirs etc -- try to spread out your money for maximum positive effect. 31. Agree on a price before you close the door with any taxi -- that is, if they have a door. 32. Russians look mean, but down deep they're softies that will shame you with their warmth, feed your with their home-grown tomatoes, then intoxicate you with their suddenly produced frosted bottle of vodka. 33. Language-learning vacations -- with homestays and eating beans for supper, particularly in secondary towns off the tourist radar -- is one of the best things you can do abroad.
34. Write a post card. Or am I the only one who feels sorry for post card lobbyists in these digital days? [See the best post card of all time, above.] 35. At small, out-of-the-way museums, ask if the curator will show you around. Sometimes they are and are thrilled to show off the dinosaur bones they personally dug up. 36. Seek out the passionate. Those who love what they do -- making belts, writing poems, pumping gas -- can make you appreciate things you didn't think you were interested in. 37. Take public transit -- a tram (I LOVE trams), subway, ox cart -- at least once, even if you don't need to get where it's going. So few Americans EVER take one, it's sad. 38. Try to take pictures of things that might change: street signs, people's shoes, homemade sandwich ads, key-maker tools, overly bright fashion, heavy metal haircuts, grandmothers selling a single toothbrush outside a Moscow subway station after the USSR fell. Old churches and statues rarely change much, some of that other stuff maybe gone tomorrow. 39. Tip appropriate to local custom. 40. Returns trips to a place are OK, but try not to limit yourself to your next three trips to Las Vegas 12, 13 and 14. 41. Squat toilets are better than sit-down toilets. But it really is still best keeping toilets and showers segregated. 42. Always give one day to a trip to an 'up for grabs' experience -- a rented car to get from A to B, with random stops at unplanned places. You will likely remember it longer than the Met. 43. The tacos might be better back home but please don't say it for all to hear in Cancún. 44. Travelling alone is something everyone should do at least once.
Following the unpleasantness of the subject matter of my POV: And The Outrage post of two days ago, it's a relief to feature Julie Aucoin's travel photography on The Travel Photographer blog.
Julie who's based in Nevada, describes herself as a passionate photographer, an adventurous traveler and experienced stage manager. She's one of those photographers who, as a child, perused the pages of the National Geographic magazine and this implanted peripatetic seeds in her.
When not managing jugglers and trapezists, Julie travels the world and recently returned from trips in Central America. The above photograph is of a vendor in Guatemala.
Here's a two for one post; I already featured Bruno Morandi on TTP about a year ago with a post on his work with the Hijras of Pakistan. Bruno is a globe trotting French photographer blessed with an excellent 'eye', and who relies on all-inclusive framing and the power of colors.
I also posted about Issuu, an online conversion system that converts PDF files so that they can be read on the internet via web browsers. One can create a digital magazine or book with its pages flipped just like the real thing.
Bruno has published his colorful Guatemala: A Symphony of Colours photographs as an Issuu digital book, and it's really lovely. I don't know what it is, but having one's photographs in digital book form seems aesthetically more pleasing to the eye than a regular ho-hum photo gallery on the web....is it because we are used to seeing photographs in book format?
If you're tempted to use Issuu service, make sure you read its terms and conditions, and consider downloading Combine PDFs 3.0. It's a Mac-only shareware that allows you to convert and put all your photographs unto one document, which is then easily uploaded to Issuu. There must be similar shareware for PCs.
With Good Friday and Easter upon us, I attended Semana Santa in Antigua (Guatemala) a few years ago. Antigua is a magnificent city declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. It is also famous for its Catholic celebration of Holy Week, which commemorates the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.
All of Antigua participates in the annual event, and the entire week is replete with religious activities. These rituals arrived with the missionaries from Spain, who brought Catholic fervor to the local indigenous population during colonial times. The famed colorful sawdust designs that carpet the cobblestoned processional routes of Antigua are called alfombras, and are one of the traditions that date back to the 1500s.
Sebastián Belaustegui was born in 1969 and although from Argentine, is currently living in Tepoztlan, Mexico. He has been an independent documentary photographer since 1991, and dedicates himself to photographing the native world of Latin America.
Sebastián’s work is exquisite, and can be seen in his gorgeous book Guardianes del Tiempo (Guardians of Time), which group his photographs of indigenous peoples of Central and Latin America. My favorite is of a Peruvian couple sitting in their room, a hamster peeking at the photographer between their legs.
His photographs appeared in National Geographic, Camera Art, Planet, and Gatopardo, as well as in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Sunday Times.
His website is here, and I urge you to visit his Personal Work section and his Guardians of Time gallery. I expect his book is available at bookstores.
In an early anticipation of Easter, this week's Beyond The Frame deals with the colorful and immensely significant Semana Santa in the lovely town of Antigua, a couple of hours from Guatemala City. The Semana Santa in Antigua is considered by many as the most beautiful religious celebration in the Americas, and the largest Holy Week observance in the Western Hemisphere. Beginning on Palm Sunday and continuing through Easter Sunday, it is best known for its colorful religious processions.
I recall the tremendous fervor expressed by the Guatemalans who participate in the processions and its preparations, creating an extraordinary outpouring of Christian faith and devotion. I found it quite easy to photograph in Antigua during the Semana Santa, as there are ample accommodations, the routes of the processions are planned in advance and no one minds photographers. Just be aware that pickpockets prefer to operate in crowds!
The processions in Antigua feature feature huge platforms, called andas, on which religious statues are mounted. The first platform, holding a figure of Christ with a cross, is carried by 60 to 100 men, called cucuruchos, dressed in purple biblical clothing. This is followed by a platform with the Virgin Mary, borne by women wearing black mourning.
Hundreds of parishioners will work overnight to create carpets, called alfombras, that display detailed pictorial and geometric designs made of flower petals, pine needles, dyed sawdust and colored sand.These will run for several blocks long in front of a church or along a procession route. In addition, people who live along a route create their own alfombras on the street in front of their homes. Antigua’s best processions take place on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
Oh, and the best capuccino I've ever had was in Antigua. Sadly, I forgot the name of the place, but it's there!
