In Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, the church bells begin to ring at 3 p.m. on November 1, All Saints Day, to signal the start of Day of the Dead. The sound of the bells guide the spirits back to earth.
(Photos posted here represent the work of participants in the group: Ron Thompson, Barbara Szombatfalvy, Donna Howard, Steven Dank, Starr Sariego, Luvia Lazo, Norma Hawthorne, and photographer/instructor Frank Hunter.)
Men tend the twin bell towers to pull the cord that echoes the sound across the valley. They work in shifts through the night and through the next day until 3 p.m. on All Souls Day, November 2, when the spirits begin their journey back to the grave.
The aroma of copal incense, wild marigold, lilies, bread and chocolate welcome the departed back to earth. The scent is strong and aligns with this pre-Hispanic ritual deeply rooted in belief.
The beauty of our Day of the Dead Photography Expedition is that each participant gets to experience this ritual personally. We embed them for a day with a local family to share the main November 2 meal of mole negro with chicken and tamales with mole amarillo.
Then, participants join the family at the cemetery to accompany the spirits and sit with them at grave sites. The practice ensures that re-entry to the underworld is filled with love, devotion and peace. In this way, we are intimately connected to the community, if only for a day.
At 3 p.m. a breeze came through and the papel picado flutter. Moments later it stopped. After the meal, we walked to the cemetery but a light rain became stronger and a taxi took us the rest of the way. The light was shadowy and obscure. People covered themselves with plastic and umbrellas. The atmosphere was magical.
As the band played and the village leaders assembled to pay homage to the traditions and customs of Zapotecs long ago, children played, rode bicycles, hid under huge displays of flowers and in the shadow of the tombs.
Day of the Dead Best Photos: Ron Thompson
Ron Thompson is a mining engineer from Trinidad, Colorado. He just got a new DSLR camera and wanted to learn how to use it. His wife, poet Kate Kingston, recommended that he join us for the Day of the Dead Photography Expedition. She loves Oaxaca and this was Ron’s first visit. Katie came along and used the time to write, soak in the Day of the Dead experience, and gather writing inspiration from the celebrations. [She was with us for the first Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat four years ago and as a result of that workshop was a finalist for the Pablo Neruda poetry prize.]
By the end of the week, Ron had downloaded and learned to use Lightroom photo editing software and was shooting all photos on manual — selecting aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Comfortable with photographing flowers and still life, he moved quickly and easily to portraiture and landscape thanks to Frank Hunter’s teaching and coaching.
Here are the photos Ron selected to represent his best of the week work. The selection was part of our final photography fiesta. We invited our host families to join us in dinner and the show.
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Photography, Travel & Tourism, Workshops and Retreats
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