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 […]
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 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 […]
The Virgin of Guadalupe Photo Essay: From Primitive to Painterly
The Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City is featuring a special exhibition about the Virgin of Guadalupe. The images include primitive figures in carved wood, elaborate paintings and wood carvings from church altars, woven and embroidered textiles, and contemporary 2016 photographs by Federico Gama taken at the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City. Why am […]
Photo Essay: Oaxaca Color, Dye Pots and People
I don’t think you can make a dye from the flower of the Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant tree, but I want to open this blog post with a photo of this dazzler that is now in full bloom all over Oaxaca. Walk under it, look up. It is an umbrella of fire ombre. This photo […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Matt Nager
Good photography is a perfect balance between technical knowledge and creative expression. Matt Nager has mastered them both. As a photojournalist, his work has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, FORTUNE, Wall Street Journal, Outdoor Life, Mother Jones and other publications. His talent combined with his youthful exuberance makes Matt an excellent teacher and […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Norma Hawthorne Shafer
For our culminating photography fiesta, we each chose the best twenty photographs from the entire week of hundreds of pictures we took during the Oaxaca People Portrait Photography Workshop. What made it easier was that each day we selected our best ten photos, projected them for everyone in the workshop to see and talked about what […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Allen Ciastko
Allen Ciastko came to Oaxaca People: Portrait Photography Workshop taught by photojournalist Matt Nager because it focused on people. An avid photographer all his life and retired pediatrician, Allen and his wife come to Oaxaca from Canada each winter to escape the cold. He commuted daily from the city to our workshop base in Teotitlan del […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Barbara Tili
Here is the Best of the Week from Barbara Tili, who was born and raised near Milan, Italy, moved to London, and has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the last four years where she practices architecture. During the Oaxaca Faces Portrait Photography Workshop in Teotitlan del Valle with photojournalist instructor Matt Nager, Barbara […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Luvia Lazo Gutierrez
This Oaxaca Faces Portrait Photography Workshop with Matt Nager was much more than taking candid photos of people we might see on the street. We depended on Teotiteca Luvia Lazo Gutierrez, who assisted me at the last photo workshop, to help connect us with local families. She speaks Spanish, Zapotec and English, so Luvia could […]
Oaxaca Portraits: Photography by Barbara Szombatfalvy
Our 2015 People of Oaxaca Portrait Photography Workshop ended with a Best of Week show and fiesta dinner following it. We invited the Teotitlan del Valle families to the presentation who welcomed us into their homes to take their pictures. Each participant selected twenty from hundreds of photos they shot during the week to show […]
Day 4: Portraits in Oaxaca Artist Studios
Our Oaxaca portrait photography workshop group spent yesterday up and down Macedonio Alcala with our cameras, and then sent off for a portrait session at Boulanc bakery that is top ranked on Trip Advisor. After a fine lunch at Cabuche on Hidalgo between Reforma and Xicotencatl, we made a stop at La Chicharra graphics arts […]
Day 3: Portraits of the Lupita Lazo Family
Today, our portrait photography workshop participants visited three families in Teotitlan del Valle who had graciously accepted our request to take their photographs. One of these is the family of Lupita Lazo. Several months ago I wrote about Lupita Lazo’s diagnosis of breast cancer (a growing problem in Mexico) and her need for financial help. […]
Day 2: Portrait Photography in the Markets
First stop is the small village of San Juan Guelavia for the last day of the Feria del Carrizo. This pueblo, just across the highway from Teotitlan del Valle, is famous for its finely woven baskets made from strips of bamboo. We spent about an hour here before going on to the bigger regional Tlacolula […]
Looking for Secundino and His Textiles, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
On Monday around noon, I pick up Ester at her brick bungalow nestled under the shadow of Picacho, Teotitlan’s holy mountain. We drive down the cobbled hill, across the small bridge over the Rio Grande, now a trickle in the dry season, to get Janet, an expat friend who lives here during the winter months. […]
Oaxaca Faces: Photographs Up Close and Personal
Yesterday, Janet and I went to Cafe Brujula (the compass), a great little spot on Garcia Virgil that roasts its own beans. This before she went off to work in the morning, and I went out and about for a day filled with errands. Some debate which is better, Cafe Brujula or Nuevo Mundo. You will […]
People of Oaxaca: Portrait Photography Workshop
Arrive Friday, January 30 and leave Friday, February 6, 2015. Options to arrive earlier and stay longer! You and any camera you have are welcome! Creating a great photographic portrait means how to connect with your subject, source natural light, and apply aesthetic judgment. Whether you are taking amateur photographs of family, friends, or interesting people […]
Matt Nager’s Photos Capture Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
Matt Nager came to Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, from Denver, Colorado, to teach a portrait photography workshop through Oaxaca Cultural Navigator two years ago. He left with some stunning images of people, the weaving process, and a sense of place. Matt’s photographs of Teotitlan appear in The Week, an on-line news source. You can see the […]
Photography Portrait of An Aging Weaver: Keeping the Traditions
Secundino Bazan Mendoza is eighty-five years old. He is the subject of today’s Oaxaca, Mexico portrait photography session along with his wife Rosa Rosa Bazan and adult daughter Ester. This was pure serendipity. Secundino is a weaver of traditional blankets and serapes. He shears the local sheep raised in Teotitlan del Valle, preferring them to […]
Oaxaca Portrait Photography Workshop: Added Blessings
This is Day Six of our program! Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday was Saturday, a day of rest and reflection for the pueblo of Teotitlan del Valle. There was only one five o’clock mass and no processions. That meant we could leisurely edit the hundreds of photographs we had taken in the days before […]
Portrait Photography in Oaxaca, Day One
Oaxaca, Mexico is a perfect portrait photography learning laboratory for a workshop. Her people are expressive, colorful and make great subjects for photographers. Yesterday morning, we gathered in the courtyard of El Diablo y La Sandia for a learning session with Matt Nager, our talented instructor from Denver, Colorado. Then, we went out on the […]