Photography Workshop Summer 2012: Best of Day One

The day began with Magdalena at the comal — the outdoor cooking griddle where she prepares fresh, stone ground tortillas from local organic corn. All hand made, all from scratch. Her fingers work the dough to make empañadas, formed between two layers of plastic wrap. Her fingers are sprinkled with cilantro.

After breakfast, our morning learning session started in the altar room of our bed and breakfast. This sacred space is where all family rituals take place. Soon, a copal incense burner will be lit to welcome in the village festival to honor the church’s namesake: Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

During the village walkabout after our session, we passed by the feria (the annual carnival) setting up rides near the market. Our instructors Sam and Tom led us around the back of the church, behind the municipal building where we discovered ancient adobe walls built atop a centuries-old Zapotec archeological site.

In the corner of the room where we watched a family make celebration and religious candles out of beeswax and natural dyes: a bag filled with used votive candles.

Beeswax used for candle making. another traditional and handmade process, taking over an hour to form the tall tapers, then make the beeswax flowers, angels, and birds that decorate them.

The candlemaker of Abasolo street, Teotitlan del Valle.

After lunch at Restaurante Tierra Antigua, Carina Santiago Bautista and Pedro Mendoza Lorenzo invited us into their kitchen to take photos. The light coming through the window following the late afternoon rainstorm was just perfect. It looks like a Rembrandt painting.