Prairie Rebels Band Features Our NO MORE WALLS Photo
This Oklahoma-based band tells it like it is through music. You will love the lyrics and the music! At least, I hope you do. During DT1, ex-pats gathered to hold a rally in downtown Oaxaca protesting the deportation of immigrants and the construction of a wall. The cost could have been used to feed the […]
Holiday Greetings! Best of the Best Oaxaca Photo Workshop
Sending you warmest greetings from sunny, sparkly Taos, New Mexico, where we are basking in high desert winter sunshine and 50 degrees (20 degrees above average). Perfect walking weather. Global warming? Definitely! I’m getting ready to return to Oaxaca on December 30. I won’t be complaining about the mid-70’s there. I want to thank you […]
Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Portraits
Yesterday, Luvia Lazo, our instructor, scheduled an online review of photographs I had taken during our recent Day of the Dead Photography Workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Everyone who participated sent Luvia a selection of what they considered to be their best 10-15 shots taken during the three days we were together. She arranged […]
Photo Workshop Day 3: Luvia’s Grandmother +
We met at Luvia’s photography studio at 9:30 a.m. Before that, most of us returned to the village market to take more pictures. The early morning light here is illuminating. The light plays with shadows and texture; there is so much to capture the eye. This is a daily market in Teotitlan del Valle, one […]
Photography Workshop Day Two: Portraits + More
On the second day of our photography workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, our instructor, Luvia Lazo Gutierrez, made appointments with families to visit them in their homes. This was an incredible exercise to capture a more intimate view of village life and to understand the technical aspects of light, shadow, distance, and perspective. Luvia, whose […]
Oaxaca Photo Workshop: Day One, Day of the Dead
We gathered in photographer Luvia Lazo Gutierrez’s studio this morning at 9:30 a.m. to start our three-day photography workshop in Teotitlan del Valle. We are here to explore the Day of the Dead visual landscape of the village, gain creative insights and technical skills, and see the world through a more defined lens. I found […]
Returning to Oaxaca, but first Japan
Good morning from Denver. I’ve got my ticket to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead, arriving on October 21 and staying for three weeks. Like many of you, I like to be home with my family for the winter holidays. I plan to participate in the Teotitlan del Valle photography workshop led by Luvia Lazo. […]
Oaxaca + Comings and Goings
Summer is winding down. It will be Labor Day weekend in ten days. I’m recovering well from spinal fusion surgery, though I’m far from perfect, and need to walk with two REI hiking poles to keep my balance, but I’m managing between 5,000 and 7,000 steps at least four times a week. Yesterday, I almost […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photo Workshop
Three Days — October 27, 28, 29, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrive just before Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead to explore the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle as preparations begin for this grand celebration to honor the ancestors. We take you inside people’s homes and workshops where you might […]
Day of the Dead 2024 Photo Workshop Instructor Featured in Elle Magazine
Elle Magazine Mexico features an interview with photographer Luvia Lazo from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. Luvia is leading a photography workshop here in October 2024, just before Day of the Dead. The interview is in Spanish, but you can use Google translate or just get the gist of it by looking at her extraordinary photographs. […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Photo Workshop
Three Days — October 27, 28, 29, 2024, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Arrive just before Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, to explore the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle as preparations begin for this grand celebration to honor the ancestors. We take you inside people’s homes and workshops where you might […]
Photo Essay: Sculptor Jose Garcia Antonio, Grand Master of Mexican Folk Art
We had the pleasure of hosting Nancy Craft and Esprit Travel + Tours in Oaxaca for nine days beginning on January 3. Nancy brought a group of fifteen people and we took them to all our favorite places to meet some of the most outstanding artisans in Oaxaca. We spent an afternoon in San Antonino […]
Oaxaca Photographer Luvia Lazo Captures Guelaguetza Style for Vogue
I first met Luvia more than ten years ago in Teotitlan del Valle, where she was born and raised and where I have lived since 2005. She was a budding young photographer then who had heart, soul, an artistic eye, creative energy and poor equipment. I invited her to participate at no cost in our […]
Day of the Dead 2021, Teotitlan del Valle Cemetery: Cultural Sensitivity
External influences on Day of the Dead cultural practices
Tlacolula Market Meander in B&W Plus TinType
I’m at Zicatela Beach Puerto Escondido after taking the little plane that could, aka AeroTucan, at 7 a.m. this morning. Our coast of Oaxaca textile tour will start on Saturday. Meanwhile, my long-time Ohio pals Sam and Tom are staying at my casita and caring for my dogs Tia Margarita and Butch. Yesterday, their first […]
Women of Chiapas Photo Essay
International Women’s Day was Thursday, March 8, 2018. It’s days later and I now find time to acknowledge, honor, recognize, applaud some of the women we met along the way during our two back-to-back Chiapas Textile Study Tours in February and March this year. I don’t know all their names. Their hands, feet and faces […]
Bonus–Yochib, Oxchuc, Chiapas: Portrait of Young Girl with Dog
Oaxaca and Chiapas have a lot in common. They are the two poorest states in Mexico, have the lowest literacy rates and in the rural areas there is little or no access to health care. Chiapas and Oaxaca have the highest percentage of indigenous people in Mexico, yet they are under-represented in politics and business, […]
Oaxaca, More than Fashion, A Place of Rootedness and Identity: Video
I am an admirer of Eric Mindling who has, over his 30-year relationship with Oaxaca, documented her people with glorious photography, and introduced many travelers to regions far off-the-beaten path. Thank you for this beautiful tribute to life, the grandparents, culture, survival and identity. It gives us pause to think about whether we are sagebrush […]
Sunset at Las Cuevitas 2018: The Sacred Caves of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Beyond the town’s paved roads, back into the hills far from the village center, is the sacred site Teotitecos call Las Cuevitas. It is the third night, January 2, of a weeklong New Year’s observance practiced here in Teotitlan del Valle long before the Spanish Conquest. For the ancients, the moon set the calendar. A […]
2018 Chiapas Textile Study Tour: Deep Into the Maya World
We have THREE spaces open for February 13-22, 2018. We have ONE space open for February 27-March 8, 2018 for a shared room at $2,495. Send me an email. Here is the program description: Chiapas Textiles + Folk Art Study Tour: Deep Into the Maya World — 2018 We are based in the historic Chiapas […]
Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner’s Mexico at the Skirball Center, Los Angeles
Once the dust of Mexico settles on your heart, you will have no rest in any other land. On September 13, I joined Patrice Wynne and Gloria Orenstein at the Skirball Cultural Center in West Los Angeles for a curator-led preview tour of this landmark exhibition, Another Promised Land: Anita Brenner’s Mexico. The exhibition runs […]
Follow Me Cultural + Photo Walking Tour, Christmas Posadas: One Day in Teotitlan del Valle
Christmas in Oaxaca is magical. In ancient villages throughout the central valleys, indigenous Zapotec people celebrate with a mix of pre-Hispanic mystical ritual blended with Spanish-European Catholic practice. They retrace the Census pilgrimage (Roman command to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for Cesar’s census) of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. The posadas in […]
Mexico Travel Photography: Day of the Dead Photo Challenge, Norma’s Picks
Mexico Travel Photography Facebook Group of 287 members just finished up submitting a photo a day as part of a five-day photography challenge. Here are the statistics: STATS: Last week’s 5-Day Photo Challenge, Day of the Dead. 39 people participated all week. They posted 136 photos total. 15 people posted 5 days in a row. Congratulations […]
Is Mexico’s Day of the Dead Like Halloween? Muertos Photos in Black and White.
We just finished a week of publishing a Day of the Dead Photography Challenge over at the Facebook site I manage, Mexico Travel Photography. You might want to jump over there to take a look at some amazing shots of this spiritual celebration of life and death. Consider joining and participating if you are not […]
Textile Fiestas of Mexico guide book by Sheri Brautigam, with a little help from Norma Schafer
It was early 2016 and I’d just returned from taking a group of textile travelers to Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico, to study the ikat rebozos of the region. Textile maven and friend Sheri Brautigam was in Oaxaca putting the final content and photos together for her upcoming book, Textile Fiestas of Mexico. http://thrumsbooks.com/little-help-friends-mexico/ […]
Making Mexico Color Photos into B&W: Chapel Hill Camera Club
Last night the Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Camera Club held a free workshop using Silver Efex Pro2 taught by Mark Lipton. It was fun to select a few of my color photos and work with the (free) Google program that then becomes an editing option in Lightroom. I want to share these with you. Mark first recommended […]
On The Road, Again: Leaving Oaxaca, Hello North Carolina, California and India
If I had Willie Nelson’s voice and guitar picking skills, I’d give you a personal performance. But, my elementary school glee club (mandatory) teacher asked me to mouth the words. You might like to hear him sing, once again. Willie Sings: On The Road Again I left Oaxaca early this morning and now overnight in […]
A Day in Xochistlan de Vicente Suarez, Puebla with Merry Foss and Friends
Xochitl is the Nahuatl word for flower and Tlan de Totonaco is the literal meaning for beautiful place. Xochistlan is the beautiful place between the flowers. (You can tell if a word has a Nahuatl origin if it ends in tl.) Here in the Sierra Norte of Puebla state, a lush landscape of rugged mountains, […]
Photography Exhibition Opening This Saturday, Oaxaca: You Are Invited
Follow-up your visit to the ExpoVENTA of Mexican Textiles and Jewelry Show and Sale with this opening exhibition of photographs from the Toledo Collection to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Centro Fotografico Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Hope to see you there! RSVP Here!
Mexico Markets Photo Essay from Mexico Travel Photography Facebook Group
We recently completed a five-day challenge to post photos of Mexico Markets on the Facebook group page for Mexico Travel Photography. Members posted 158 photos. We have over 250 members and there’s room for many more! Next up is a challenge for September 15 and 16: Post ONE photo to honor Mexico Independence Day. Bring […]