With the bakers
In late 2015 my wife and I were invited to join a friend and his wife --Juan and Esther-- on a two-hour excursion outside Mexico City in San Rafael Atlixco. For days he nostalgically took us on a tour down memory lane detailing his family history and upbringing against the backdrop a place that had once been very commercially active in the 20th Century; it had been the town's golden century, that is until the French operation went belly up.
Knowing my obsession for meeting people and documenting life, Juan took me to meet the owners of a local bakery walking distance from his spacious and recently renovated weekend home.
A matter of faith
Image made during an Evangelical Christian parade along 5 de Mayo in downtown, Mexico City.
An image I captured in Mexico City's Historic Center in 2013. It was the first time I had seen a major Christian Evangelical exhibit representing the Evangelical movement in Mexico and in great numbers. The Catholic religion is the primary faith in Mexico yet it appears that in recent decades there has been a surge in the number of people flocking to other faiths the Vatican depicts as sects and false religions.
Scrub
An afternoon scrub after the rain somewhere along Canal de Miramontes in Coyoacán, Mexico City.
Keeping things clean is a common struggle in this city. Sometimes, dust just seems to appear out of thin air within seconds of its removal. This sweeping and scrubbing of sidewalks is a practice that still intrigues me given
Metro Zócalo
Woman selling on the steps of the Zócalo Metro exit/entrance.
An elderly woman vending on the steps of the Zocalo Metro station in Mexico City.
Tacos
A taco spot on Av. 5 de Mayo in downtown, Mexico City.
La preparación de una comida local en un puesto de tacos sobre la Av. 5 de Mayo en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México.
It's been a month since my last post. I needed some time to step back from my photography and attempt to evaluate what is wrong or can be improved in my image making. It's hard when you are not being mentored and are mostly self-taught. I spend a lot of time comparing my work to those produced by folks I admire attempting to understand what makes theirs possess the capacity to communicate effectively and how I can apply that understanding to my own efforts. The practice can be inspirational yet I admit there are days when I am driven to depression wondering if I should just throw the towel and move on to something else. The key to mastering, as I recall from a recent TED Talk I listened to, is to keep trying and this is exactly what I am going to do.
I
Dunning-Kruger and the stories we tell ourselves
En movimiento sobre Eje Central, Centro Historico - Ciudad de Mexico.
After listening to a podcast on the Dunning-Kruger Effect —when an incompetent person is unaware of his own incompetence— I could not help but ask myself if I suffer from this cognitive inability to recognize my own incompetence when in comes to my photography. Many times I've asked myself —and still do— if my photography will ever measure up ; if I should just give up and seek something else I might be "good" at? But I couldn't get myself to do it if I came to a full realization of skills I might lack in this activity I enjoy so much since I was a child. I enjoy making images too much. I love stories and making photos is my way of capturing and sharing them.
Yes, I know I am just capturing the light of a given moment and how that moment is interpreted, or the story told, will be different from person to person, but it's a story nonetheless.
Interested in knowing more about the Dunning-Kruger Effect, check it out here.
Tower, light, and people
Downtown Mexico City looking towards one of Mexico City's most iconic landmarks.
A view towards Mexico City's iconic Torre Latino Americano from Av. Francisco I. Madero in the Centro Historico.
Hair Cut
An evening haircut somewhere in Coyoacan, Mexico City.
The Mexico to the American greenback exchange rate hit an all-time-high of 18.90 pesos per one U.S. Dollar. Good for those folks earning and spending in Dollars, especially tourists thinking of coming down to Mexico whose Franklins and Jeffersons will go way further than in the past --a not too long ago past at that.
The aforementioned is a symptom of several economic and financial factors I won't bore you with. The fact remains, in spite of all the numbers the Mexican government keeps throwing out to the public, things are NOT looking up for Mexico given internal and external dynamics. The facts are there for all to see. Then again, seeing is not believing for many folks; a better descriptor of human nature is: what do you believe you see? Well, just look at the Donald Trump campaign in the United States. It does not matter how many facts or lies you give people, they always end up falling on what they choose to believe and even facts can be used to build a worldview based on lies.
Blowing Hot Air
Festival Internacional del Globo 2015
During one of the evening events at the Festival Internacional del Globo 2015 (International Hot Air Balloon Festival 2015) in Leon, Guanajuato - Mexico.
Regañado
Dog tied to a concrete seat in front of a restaurant in Mexico City.
I was thinking today about thinking. This cognitive process does not come easily to our species. We are used to letting others we call "experts" do all the complex research, analysis, and comparison of texts, ideas and what have you. We are accustomed to having others do all the repackaging of ideas and knowledge for us. Just how much of what we think we know is the sum of our own thinking and understanding or a collection of ideas and information we simply regurgitate at will?
Smiles and Lipstick
Readying up for photo at Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.
A couple at Chapultepec Forest a moment before posing for a photo by photographers taking the traditional horse and charro hat image in November of this year.
What Do You See?
Too see with your eyes, to understand with your mind.
An everyday cliché commands us not to judge a book by its cover, but what we wear has a way of telling volumes. More accurately, how we wear it may be key; however, this is not what this blog post is about. It's just an image taken on my way home one afternoon on one of Mexico City's subway lines. Perception is not what we see with our eyes, it's what we interpret with our minds.
Sombras
Chasing light and shadows in Mexico City's historic downtown area. A lot has changed since I first came to know this area. I worked here for five years. Though I don't commute into the area everyday as I did then, much of my photography is executed in this very exciting niche of this vast urban space.