#QuidateEnCasa: In Oaxaca, Stay Home Order Cancels Good Friday
Stay Safe at Home. Today, on Good Friday, I immediately think of the 1964 Simon & Garfunkel song, The Sounds of Silence, knowing that the traditional Semana Santa celebrations in Oaxaca and my town, Teotitlan del Valle, have been cancelled. For religion to be cancelled in Mexico, this is a very serious time! On April […]
Who Is the Virgin of Guadalupe? Digging Deeper
We are fascinated by the Madonna, the Virgin, the Mother Earth Goddess known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrated as The Queen — La Reina — of Mexico. Her feast day, December 12, has come and gone, yet the discussion about her meaning and origins continues. My last blog post, La Reina de Mexico: Celebrating […]
Chiapas Textile Study Tour Snapshot: If It’s Sunday, It Must Be Chamula and Zinacantan
San Juan Chamula was our first stop on Sunday, the big market day in the Tzotzil speaking Maya village located about thirty minutes outside of San Cristobal de Las Casas. This also happened to be a day for baptisms. As we arrived at the Chamula church, extended families were emerging. Children of all ages were […]
Chiapas Notebook: Maya Cemetery at Romerillo
The day is cloudy, overcast. A mist hangs on the hills like a coverlet. It’s late February, still chilly with winter in the Chiapas Highlands. Fuzzy wool cape weather, even in the early afternoon. After our visit to Tenejapa for the Thursday market, we make a stop at Romerillo before returning to San Cristobal de […]
Good Friday in Oaxaca, Mexico: Procession of Silence
Holy Week or Semana Santa in Oaxaca, Mexico, is coming to a close for 2016. On Good Friday, the Procession of Silence that re-enacts the trial, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus (14 Stations of the Cross) starts around sunset and winds through the main streets of the historic center. Leading the procession is Archbishop Jose Luis […]
Semana Santa–Easter Holy Week in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
As I write, someone is in the bell tower pulling the rope that rings the campana — a clarion call to gathering. Today is El Lunes Santo in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. You still have time to catch a taxi or colectivo from Oaxaca to arrive for the 9 a.m. mass in the Preciosa Sangre de […]
Traditional Altars: Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico
After a night spent in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan cemetery on October 31 for Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico, I headed back to the Tlacolula Valley on Sunday morning. I was invited to San Pablo Villa de Mitla by friends Arturo Hernandez and Epifanio Ruiz Perez to visit for Day of the Dead. […]
Death in the Family: Oaxaca, Mexico
It’s quiet. The sky is covered over with a blanket of thin clouds. Birdsong accentuates the space. Though it’s the end of June just before the solstice, the morning is chill. A breath of wind rustles the guaje tree branches outside the kitchen window. I need a wool wrap. Breakfast is hot oatmeal with goat […]
Wide Angle View: Antoni Gaudi’s Basilica Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Awesome. Inspiring. Surreal. Transformational. Meditative. Astonishing. Captivating. Beyond imagination. Crazy. No words can adequately describe the Basilica Sagrada Familia in Eixample, Barcelona, Spain. You can learn more about this architectural wonder by reading works of art historians, cultural pundits and architects than you can from me. So, I won’t say much more than this is […]
San Juan Chamula, Chiapas: No Photographs, Please
It’s impossible to take a photograph inside the once-Catholic church of San Juan Chamula. It is a Sunday haven of pre-Hispanic mysticism, with folk practices that go way back in indigenous history. Tourists are warned to tread lightly. My body aches to take a photograph of the family crouched on pine needles in front of […]
Day of the Dead 2013 Begins in Oaxaca
Visitors and local revelers fill the streets. Hotels are booked months ahead. The pre-Hispanic traditions of Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — in Oaxaca are becoming blended once again as people gather for this amazing celebration of life. The Spanish combined ancient indigenous practice with Catholic All Saints Day. Now, as […]
Madrid, Morocco and Mexico: Conquest, Empire, Power and Religion
Madrid was my gateway city to and from Morocco. I planned two full days there on the way back for arts immersion. (It wasn’t enough time!) What was quickly revealed were the inextricable links between Spain, Mexico and the Americas, and North Africa. This last stop on my journey tied it all together. Our histories […]
Modest Organ with Big Sound: San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca
San Jeronimo Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca is an agricultural town. Farmers grow organic crops throughout the seasons: corn, squash, runner beans, garlic, garbanzos, flowers, and alfalfa. Mostly, Tlacochahuaya is renowned for its 1678 Baroque organ housed on the balcony above the 16th century gilded Dominican church sanctuary. It is a historic treasure. It is eleven o’clock Sunday […]
From the Hip: The Church of Santa Maria Tonantzintla, Puebla
On the outskirts of the town of San Pablo Cholula, about 40 minutes from the City of Puebla, lies the Church of Santa Maria Tonantzintla. It is not to be missed and photography is verboten inside. There are two parts to my story today. First, it is a mecca for several reasons. The church […]
Portrait Photography Workshop in Oaxaca: Good Friday–Day Five
Today, we are immersed in the reverence and solemnity of Good Friday, moving along with the crowds to photograph the religious and social rituals that are part of this important day. Here in Oaxaca, Mexico it’s called Viernes Santo and celebrated with traditional European-style that very different from the United States. We are based in […]
Day of the Three Kings: Wise Men Bring Gifts to Children
For our photojournalism workshop we arranged a visit to a local family who have two young daughters, Paula Sarai, age six, and Mayra Belen age three. We wanted to fully experience the joy of Day of the Three Kings (Dia de los Tres Reyes) through the perspective of the children. Epiphany, held on January 6, […]
Interlude: Santa Cruz, California
Work as I have known it, with routine and some semblance of structure and predictability, has ended. My office is cleaned out of all the essentials and my personal memorabilia, ready for the next person to inherit and create as their own. I will return on December 27 for my exit interview and give up […]
First Communion in Teotitlan del Valle
Yesterday, brothers Willibaldo and Eligio Bazan Ruiz celebrated their First Communion in the village of Teotitlan del Valle. They are the sons of weaver Eligio Bazan Ruiz and Josefina Ruiz Vazquez who I wrote about earlier this week. It is Josefina and her mother-in-law Magdalena who started Las Granadas Bed and Breakfast after we were […]