Prantik Mazumder: Mexico

Photo © Prantik Mazumder-All Rights Reserved

 Prantik Mazumder is a self-taught photographer, originally from Calcutta, India, and moved to North America for his graduate studies. Currently settled in Ithaca, New York, he's pursuing a career in scientific research.

He traveled to Mexico in 2006 with his first digital SLR, and has images from New Orleans, Ithaca, Peru and Mexico. I particulalry liked the above picture made in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, because of its colors and composition...and for the graffiti.

The Revolucion signage with the graffiti asking the local police not be brutal while the woman is covering her eyes is a message in itself.

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Michelle Frankfurter: Destino

Photo © Michelle Frankfurter- All Rights Reserved

Having read Cormac McCarthy’s, The Crossing, Michelle Frankfurter started to photograph along the US-Mexico border, and focuses her photo essay Destino featured on Burn magazine on undocumented Central American migrants who travel across Mexico in an attempt to reach the United States to work.

It's a sad tale that highlights not only the harsh risks inherent in such an endeavor, be it from criminal gangs, from corrupt police, from accidents to a myriad of other life-endangering events on the way.

A number of photographers attending the Mexico Foundry Photojournalism Workshop chose a similar subject for their documentary projects, and the area known as La Lecheria, where migrants seemed to converge to hitchhike north-bound trains, was a magnet for those photographers.

Michelle Frankfurter is a documentary photographer who worked for three years as a staff photographer for daily newspapers: The Herald – Journal and Post Standard in Syracuse, New York. She spent three years living in Nicaragua where she worked as a stringer for the British news agency, Reuters and with the human rights organization Witness For Peace. In 1995, a long-term project on Haiti earned her two World Press Photo awards. She has worked for a number of editorial publications, including The Guardian of London, The Washington Post Magazine, Ms., Time, and Life Magazine.

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Maya Elise Joseph Goteiner: Dia De Los Muertos

Photograph © Maya Joseph-Goteiner -All Rights Reserved

I just saw lovely photographs by Maya Joseph-Goteiner on PDN Photo of The Day, and thought I'd feature her work from Oaxaca and elsewhere relating to the Dia de los Muertos festivities, which was featured on PDN here as well. You can also see more of Maya's work on her blog.

The Dia de los Muertos is a Catholic celebration of the memory of deceased ancestors celebrated on November 1 (All Saints) and November 2 (All Souls). Its origins can be traced back to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, such as the Zapotec, Aztec, Maya, Purepecha, Nahual and Totonac. Rituals celebrating the lives of dead ancestors has been observed by Mesoamerican civilizations for at least 3,000 years.

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El Rey: East Los Angeles' Mariachis

This is a delightful short documentary featuring Mariachis musicians in East Los Angeles produced by Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari. The piece features Mariachi musicians who gather on corners of the streets of East Los Angeles looking for work, whether in birthday parties, in cafes, restaurants, quinceañeras, weddings and the like.

To my delight, the main singer belts outs out the famous Mexican song "Volver Volver", initially without the accompaniment of musical instruments. I used to hear it played often in the zocalo of Oaxaca...just delightful.

According to Wikipedia, the term "Mariachi" is said to be an adaptation of the French word for marriage or wedding "mariage" as this type of musical formation plays at these events.

via The Click

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Rodrigo Cruz: Women Warriors

Photo © Rodrigo Cruz-All Rights Reserved

The reason I go out onto the streets with my camera is simple: I want to tell people's stories in an intimate way through powerful imagery. -Roberto Cruz

Rodrigo Cruz is a freelance photographer with a particular interest in abuses of human rights, especially against women and children in his native Mexico. His work was published by National Geographic and The Washington Post, and by NGOs such as Amnesty International. He was shortlisted for the 2010 Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights; received an honorary mention in the photo contest ‘Global World: through the lens of human rights’; and was selected last year to participate in PhotoEspaña’s Descubrimientos in Guatemala City.

I met Roberto at the inaugural Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City in 2008, and he was one of the indispensable members that made it such a success. Many of the photojournalists, whether instructors or students, relied on his knowledge, contacts and assistance for their projects and classes.

Have a look at Rodrigo's Women Warriors and Dance of Mice; these are two unusual traditions practiced in Guerrero in southern Mexico. One of his audio-slideshow projects especially relevant at this time when illegal immigration is being targeted in our southern states is The Promised Land.

For further details on Rodrigo, his projects and talent, drop by Canon Pro Network.

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Jon Guido Bertelli: Last of Zapatistas

Photo © Jon Bertelli -All Rights Reserved
Jon Bertelli is an international photographer, who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, but was raised in Florence and academically trained in the visual arts there and in Oslo.

He lived in Mexico in the late nineties, and documented the last surviving Zapatista fighters; the veterans of the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution of the South, led by the famed (and feared) Emiliano Zapata. While Pancho Villa's revolution was concentrated in the north of the country, Zapata and his insurgents represented the south.

Jon photographed the surviving insurgents; most of which were over 100 years old. These were idealistic men and women who sacrificed their well-being and lives to follow Zapata. Many were decorated as war heroes by the Mexican government, and some have been recognized internationally for their bravery.

You have the choice of seeing Jon's The Last of the Zapatistas on his website, or on FOTO8 where his portraits have been made into an audio-sideshow.

The audio track used is La Soldadera by Garcia-Pujol and Jimenez. While it's a beautiful and appropriately evocative piece, imagine if the audio of the elderly Zapatistas' voices, telling us a bit of their exploits, was also included!!

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Trevor Snapp: La Santa Muerte

Photo © Trevor Snapp-All Rights Reserved
Trevor Snapp is a self-taught photographer with degrees in anthropology and African studies, and his work is syndicated with Corbis and Millennium Images. His clients include Stern, National Geographic Traveler, BBC, Time.com, Chicago Tribune, Marie Calire and others. He has also worked for a variety of NGOs such as Heifer International, Gates Foundation, and Intrahealth in Africa.

Now based in Kampala, Trevor photographed La Santa Muerte in Mexico, among other galleries of Central Amercia

The cult of Santa Muerte is unusual because it's the cult of the drug lords, the dispossessed, and criminals. There are many shrines to Santa Muerte in the capital city, but Tepito is where the most popular shrines are. Tepito is an infamous barrio and its tough reputation dates back to pre-Hispanic times. The neighborhood is a warren of mean streets and alleys, lined with auto-body shops and small stores. It's here that the prostitutes, drug dealers and petty thieves come to pay their respect to the saint. It's also where the common folk; housewives, cab drivers and street vendors come to make their offerings...tequila bottles, candles, money and flowers.

The gallery strikes a chord with me since I photographed in Tepito in 2008, along with two other photographers, when we were within a hair's breadth of being mugged.

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My Work: Ocotlán Matron

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
During my Oaxaca Mini Photo-Expedition™ a few weeks ago, we drove to Ocotlán de Morelos which is located 30-40 kilometers from Oaxaca, and photographed at its weekly market. I found it much more photogenic than those in Oaxaca proper such as the Abastos and Benito Juarez markets; perhaps more authentic is a better description.

Notwithstanding, the Zapotecs are not fond of being photographed, and I had to be somewhat circumspect when photographing in such an environment. One of the photographs that almost works is the one of the Ocotlán matron above. The wall colors are great, the blue basket matches her frock, and her expression is phenomenal...but her posture is not quite as I would have liked it.

As I slowly moved to the right to adjust my framing after this photograph was made, she saw me and ran inside the store.

Ah well...perhaps another time I'll be luckier.

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Gloria: Maestra de la Guelaguetza

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
During the Oaxaca Mini Photo~Expedition™ last week, we attended a Guelaguetza performance at one of the town's old hotels. I managed to get our group in the dancers' dressing room just before the performance, where we were introduced to Gloria, an experienced dancer who was dubbed "La Maestra" by the rest of the dancers.

Although heavy-set, Gloria had the flexibility, energy and liveliness of dancers half-her age, and she deafened us with her rhythmic whistling during the most frenetic parts of the dances. A real professional, with a wicked sense of humor.

La Guelaguetza is a perfomance of traditional dances from the seven regions of the state of Oaxaca. The performance is a re-creation of the original dance steps and music passed down through the generations. Dancers, and even musicians, wear costumes representative of their respective district, which are decorated with ribbons and sometimes bells.

The origin of the Guelaguetza dances dates fro pre-Columbian traditions, and the word "guelaguetza" is originally Zapotec Indian which means an offering or gift. In the true spirit of guelaguetza, the dancers at the end of their performance toss gifts, usually of fruits and vegetables, into the crowd. These offerings represent their region's specialty and include straw hats, flowers, mangoes and even pineapples.

This is what I described in my earlier POV post, and the fruits were eagerly awaited by some poor Zapotec children watching the children Guelaguetza.

Here's my gallery of La Guelaguetza photographs, made in 2007, which has additional details.

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POV: Children Should Never Go Hungry

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
The Zocalo, with its cultural activities, is the very heart of Oaxaca, and is a daily magnet for locals and tourists alike. It also attracts vendors of various trinkets, as well as poor children (all of them indigenous...possibly Zapotecs) who attempt to make a few pesos by selling chewing gum. Approaching the restaurants' tables occupied by tourists, these children sometimes shyly ask for left-overs. In fact, that's what three little girls did one evening. We gladly gave them whatever was on our table, and one of us even asked our waiter for a bag to give them half her pizza.

During a festive Guelguetza dance festival of schoolchildren, I looked beyond the colors, music, laughter and frenetic motion, and at the periphery of the stage, saw a Zapotec boy with arms outstretched in askance for fruits from one of the young dancers.

You see, after each dance the young dancers would reach into baskets of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and toss them to an appreciative audience. The Zapotec boy was in that audience, and wanted fruit. Mind you, not for keepsake as perhaps the families wanted, but to eat. However, I also noticed he never reached into the basket full of apricots just inches from him...no, that would be stealing. He just wanted the young dancer to give him one...and he got a fruit.

Not only was I sobered at this sight, but I also read in these unfortunate children's eyes an uncomprehending acceptance that they would never take part in an organized Guelaguetza dance such as the one they were witnessing. I also sensed that they understood that it was so because they were poor and were racially different. They would never wear the colorful Guelaguetza costumes. All this boy could muster was an old over sized baseball cap, and a dirty shirt.

No child should go hungry and no child should beg for food. Ever.

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Oaxaca: La Guelaguetza

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Our "almost-a-week-long" Oaxaca Mini Photo-Expedition™ was replete with daily serendipitous photo opportunities. Lynn Padwe, Carl Meisel, Li Lu-Porter, Maria Dikeos and I roamed the streets of this wonderful town in search of photographic scenes, and we weren't disappointed.

Naturally, it was the Zocalo...the throbbing heart of Oaxaca, that offered the most in terms of photo ops, and we made the most of it. It's always a wonderment that Oaxaca (and certainly other similar towns in Mexico) always has something going on in its main square. During our 5 days there, every evening saw some sort of cultural event; a classical performance by the Oaxaca orchestra, a performance by a wide-throated Mariachi singer, a Guelaguetza festival for young children (above) and the weekly dance event.

After photographing the events, we would invariably make a beeline towards the various cafes and restaurants that line the square for drinks and/or dinner.

Note: I've recently noticed that a number of travel photographers have now started to appropriate the Photo-Expedition moniker that I've used for years. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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Live From Oaxaca

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
After suffering the trauma of temporarily losing my checked-in luggage between Newark, Mexico City and Oaxaca, I was delighted to be reunited with my belongings a mere 4 hours later. Not too bad Mexicana Click!! Of course, I jumped the gun and bought toothpaste/toothbrush and some other essentials (even a t-shirt) just in case, but that story ended well.

So here I am typing/blogging away in the patio of the delightful Hotel Aitana in the Centro Historico de Oaxaca, after a morning replete with photo ops in the two main markets of the town. We were glad to photograph a Guelaguetza rehearsal of young boys and girls at the Zocalo, who were prepping for a main event next Saturday.

We are waiting for one more member to join our group this afternoon, and we will then start the afternoon session. In the meantime, here's an image of a Oaxacan laborer. I can't tell if it sharp, or well processed as I'm using my Acer netbook...but it'll do for now.

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On The Road: Oaxaca

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
As you read this, I should be on my way to Newark to catch my flight to Mexico, where I'll be conducting a short photo-expedition/workshop on street photography in the always delightful Oaxaca. Our small group will be staying at the Hotel Aitana, which will be our base for these 5 days.

Although the hotel has internet facilities, I'll be posting somewhat sporadically during that time, giving myself a break as far as daily blogging is concerned. Perhaps I'll be updating my Twitter page instead...we'll see.

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Chico Sanchez: The Way North

Photo © Chico Sanchez -All Rights Reserved
One of the most recent slideshows by Chico Sanchez is The Way North, which documents the plight of the hundreds of people from South and Central America as well as Mexico's poorest regions who pass through La Lecheria, a small factory town just outside Mexico City, on their way to the borders of the United States.

Chico Sanchez is a freelance photographer based in Mexico City. Chico worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelances for various newspapers and magazines.

Many of Chico Sanchez's documentary/travel photography slideshows have been featured on The Travel Photographer blog and can be found here.

A number of photographers, some of whom attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City in 2008, have documented La Lecheria. In fact, a project produced by one of the participants in my Multimedia class was on the same subject.

You can see my own slideshow Los Migrantes about the migrants who pass through La Lecheria.

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Oaxaca Mini-Photo~Expedition

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
I'm getting my gear ready for my Oaxaca Photo~Expedition, scheduled for March 17-March 21.

It's a short trip, a sort of mini photo~expedition...and will concentrate almost exclusively on street photography in this lovely small city in south Mexico. Walking the streets of the old historic center of Oaxaca is always a wonderful experience, and it cannot get better than waiting for decisive moments in the Zocalo.

We'll also do the Zapotec weavers of Teotitlan, and the weekly market in Ocatlan.

I plan to resort to my Minimalist set up, but also schlep my Canon Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS which hasn't seen much action in India a few weeks ago. Hopefully it'll come in useful should we decide to attend Guelaguetza dancing performances.

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Stephen Alvarez: Maya Underworld

Photo © Stephen Alvarez -All Rights Reserved
As readers of this blog know, I'm a proselytizer of large photographs for websites portfolios, and have made this preference very obvious through various postings and with my own photographic galleries. I cannot understand photographers who still exhibit dinky small photographs on their websites...in my view, they're not taking proper advantage of the medium.

So it's with pleasure that I feature Stephen Alvarez's Maya Underworld, a gallery of 22 large photographs for a story originally published by the National Geographic Magazine, and which showcases the religious rituals and ceremonies of today’s Mayan peoples in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. This is but one of Alvarez's of sensational galleries, so take a tour of his website as well.

Stephen Alvarez is a photojournalist who produces global stories about exploration, culture, religion, and the aftermath of conflict. He has been a National Geographic photographer since 1995. His work won awards in Pictures of the Year International, Communications Arts and was exhibited at Visa Pour L’Image International Photojournalism Festival.

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La Santa Muerte: Lorne Matalan

Photograph Lorne Matalon-All Rights Reserved

Here's an audio slideshow of photographs by Lorne Matalon of La Santa Muerte, which is a saint-like figure worshiped and venerated in Mexico, probably as spiritual fusion of Mesoamerican and Catholic beliefs. Its cult attracts those who are inclined to seek the non-traditional ways for spiritual solace, and many of its followers live outside of the law.

Lorne Matalon has been reporting from Mexico for The World since November 2007. He covered the Mexican 'war on drugs' from the front lines, going on patrol with the Mexican armed forces. He also covered immigration and economic stories from south of the border. He worked at NPR Member Stations WUNC and WBUR, also filing for NPR from Haiti, Panama and Mongolia. Lorne is a contributor to National Geographic's Ethnosphere Project and a National Fellow at the Explorers Club of New York.

While in Mexico City, I visited Tepito, the infamous barrio where many of Santa Muerte sanctuaries are found, and produced my gallery: La Santa Muerte.

More posts on La Santa Muerte appeared here.

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Chico Sanchez: Pok Ta Pok

"The Popol Vuh, holy book of the Quiché Maya, contains a story of a confrontation between good and evil, played out in the form of a ballgame. Throughout pre-Hispanic history, this ballgame has played an important yet mysterious and debated role in the cultures of Mesoamerica, sometimes taking the form of sacrifice ritual, sometimes a game of chance, always symbolic of a timeless struggle between opposing forces, with an outcome governed by supernatural powers in conjunction with human skill and honor."-(BBC)

Here's a short audio slideshow by photographer Chico Sanchez documenting the ancient ballgame of Pok Ta Pok as played in Yucatan, Mexico. As the preamble above describes, it's a symbolic game between the forces of good and evil.

Chico Sanchez is a freelance photographer based in Mexico City. Chico worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelances for various newspapers and magazines.

Many of Chico Sanchez's documentary/travel photography slideshows have been featured on The Travel Photographer blog and can be found here.

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Pablo Corral Vega: Andes

Pablo Corral Vega is a photojournalist from Ecuador whose work is published in National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, the Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times Sunday magazine, Audubon, the French, German, Spanish, and Russian editions of Geo, and other international magazines.

His work has been exhibited in Perpignan, Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Tokyo, Seville, Washington, D.C., and Houston, and he has published six books of photography: Tierra Desnuda, Paisajes del Silencio, Ecuador: De la Magia al Espanto, Ecuador, Andes and Twenty Five. For the book Andes, published by the National Geographic Society, famed Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa wrote twenty short stories inspired by the photos.

It is Andes that I choose to feature today on the pages of TTP.

Kent Kobersteen, former Director of Photography for the National Geographic Magazine wrote the following text about Corral for his book "Twenty Five":

"Pablo Corral Vega brings to his photography great passion, an unparalleled aesthetic, and a high degree of concern for both his work and his subjects. (He) is a world-class photojournalist, and in my opinion one of the finest Latin American photographers working today." "

There's no question that Pablo Corral Vega's work is incredibly beautiful, and his imagery of the various cultures depicted in Andes is passionate, emphatic and in many cases, superb. The photograph of the man and the shadows is certainly one of those.

I also greatly enjoyed Pablo's video work showing the same places he photographed for the National Geographic. Yes, I recommend viewing Pablo's personal view of this musical genre and its associated sensuous dance form. But be careful...after viewing the video, you will want to book your flight to Buenos Aires, and spend the rest of your life in these cafes and restaurants, immersed in tango atmosphere.

My thanks to Eric Beecroft for the heads-up.

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Alex Espinosa: Criancas de Nordeste

©Alex Espinosa-All Rights Reserved
Alex Espinosa is a Mexican photographer and photojournalist, who traveled in Latin America from 2000-2006 to document daily life and the humanitarian efforts made to improve lives of children. The documentary project was sponsored by CETYS University, San Diego State University and the University of Baja California.

His work was exhibited in Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and the United States, and was published in Obras, Expansion, Ambientes, Escala, Vinum and International GEO.

Alex is also an alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City.

Criancas de Nordeste is a photo essay dealing with poverty in Brazil, where official statistics show that about 32 million people live under the poverty line. Particulalry in the northeast of the country, this statistic is exacerbated by the fact that many poor families have 7 children or more, and depend on a monthly salary equivalent to $14.

Alex Espinosa's website also has galleries of La Santa Muerte, Migrants and Patagonia, among others.

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