The Frame: The Virgin Of Guadalupe

Photo  Anita Baca-All Rights Reserved

Did I realize that the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 14th Street (not far from where I live in New York City) would commemorate one of Mexico's most important religious holidays this past Monday? Of course not. I only find out stuff like that after the fact.

However, The Frame of The Sacramento Bee has featured 17 photographs of the celebration of this popular religious festival in Mexico City when millions make the pilgrimage to honor the dark-skinned virgin, said to have appeared to an Indian peasant on Dec. 12, 1531.

According to the captions accopmpanying the images, an estimated 5 million people from across Mexico arrived at the basilica Monday carrying large frames, wooden sculptures and ceramic statues of the virgin on their backs. The Nuestra Seora de Guadalupe is recognized as a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans.

I chose to feature Anita Baca's photograph (above) showing a pilgrim who journeyed by foot from the state of Hidalgo, posing for a photo in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, while a fellow pilgrim stands by, not only for its colors but for its composition. Notice how the curve of the dark sombrero matches the curve of the icon.

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Enrico Martino: Dia De Los Muertos

Time flies, and it's this time of year...once again! Observed on November 1st and 2nd, the Dia de Los Muertos is around the corner. Family and friends gather to pray for loved ones who have died. It is celebrated in Mexico, where it's virtually considered a national holiday. Traditionally, private altars honoring the deceased are built using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the dead. Visiting cemeteries, crypts and graves is also a tradition during these two days.

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (known as calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas. Also common are sugar skulls, inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Other special foods include pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a sweet egg bread made in many shapes, from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

For those who are interested in documenting the Dia de los Muertos, photography workshops in Oaxaca are almost a tradition as well, and are plentiful.

Enrico Martino is an editorial, geographic and documentary photojournalist specialized in travel and cultural assignments. He's a contributor to Italian and international magazines, to include Meridiani, "D"-Repubblica, Epoca, Espresso, Panorama, Focus, Gente Viaggi, In Viaggio, Airone, Panorama Travel, Sette, Traveller, Tuttoturismo, Elle, Marie Claire, Merian, Spiegel, Die Zeit, Jeune Afrique, Altair, Rutas del Mundo.

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Leslie Mazoch: Escaramuzas

"We're not just pretty things anymore".

Charreria is Mexico's most traditional equestrian sport, and was dominated by males for many years. However, the presence of skilled female equestrians performing dangerous and synchronized exercises while riding sidesaddle led to the creation of escaramuzas (the Spanish word for scuffle) charras. These women train tirelessly for the chance to show off their equestrian choreography.

Escaramuzas is a "photo-movie" produced by Leslie Mazoch of her black & white stills and ambient audio, which includes a beautiful poem in Spanish (with English sub-titles). It could have been titled Mexican Amazons, since it documents Mexican women who take up this noble sport, and who ride their horses sidesaddle. From what I gathered from the slideshow, the escaramuzas was an accidental tradition that started in 1953, and was influenced by the gypsies of Spain.

Leslie Mazoch is a photographer and photo editor for the Associated Press in Mexico for Latin America and the Caribbean.

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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, quincea eras, 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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La Santa Muerte

In total contrast to the above feature by Chico Sanchez, this post is about La Santa Muerte; a growing cult in Mexico whose core is the worship of the Santa Muerte or Holy Death, a kind of female incarnation of the Grim Reaper. In this short movie clip. Ioan Grillo and Journalist Daniel Hernandez go deep into Santa Muerte's spiritual center in Tepito, an old market neighborhood in the heart of Mexico City, which has long been associated with the criminal underworld to learn more about this new religious movement gaining traction at the fringe of Mexican culture.

This is extremely interesting to me as Tepito is the rough neighborhood of Mexico City where a couple of my students from the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop and I spent time in, photographing at some of the shrines of La Santa Muerte. Alex Espinosa, Christine Sommers and I photographed the very church and priest shown in the movie clip...and it's a deja vu for me, as it will be to them. We almost got mugged, but that's another story...

My gallery of photographs of La Santa Muerte is here.

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Chico Sanchez: Day of the Dead

Photograph � Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
Chico Sanchez brings us once again a nicely-done Soundslides feature of the El Dia de Los Muertos from the Mexican towns of Xochimilco and Toluca. He combined a well chosen ambient audio and music to create an interesting soundtrack to his photographs.

The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico, and focuses on family gatherings and friends to pray for and remember loved ones who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Scholars trace the origins of the Day of the Dead to indigenous observances dating back thousands of years.

Chico Sanchez's other features on The Travel Photographer's blog are Lucha Libre, Lady of Guadalupe and Holy Week.

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La Santa Muerte

Photograph Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
While participating in the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City this past June, one of the projects that my class was interested in was the cult of Santa Muerte.

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.

La Santa Muerte

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Tewfic El-Sawy: Los Migrantes

Here's a multimedia photo essay I produced about the migrants from Central America and beyond, who pass through Mexico City by hitching rides on freight trains. Their ultimate destinations are the southern states of the United States, where they hope to find jobs.

Similar to the hobos of the past in our own country, the migrants have support from generous people along the way. The last frames of the slideshow are of famished migrants given hot tamales by an impoverished household in the La Lecheria neighborhood of Mexico City. I spoke with them in my less-than-fluent Spanish, and it's impossible not to be compassionate with human beings trying their best to improve their lives by any means.

A number of participants in my class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop produced similar photo essays.

Los Migrantes by Tewfic El-Sawy

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Matt Wright-Steel: Migrantes

Photograph © Matt Wright-Steel-All Rights Reserved
Here's one of the many excellent multimedia photo essays presented at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW). "Migrantes" is produced by Matt Wright-Steel, a photojournalist based in Texas who participated in FPW.

"Migrantes" was photographed in an area nicknamed El Lecheria of Mexico City, where migrants from Central America and beyond slip on freight trains heading north to the United States borders, hoping for a better life and opportunities. It's estimated that in recent years at least 4.5 million migrants made it through the border.

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New York Times: Mexican Rodeos

Photograph © Jim Wilson/The New York Times-All Rights Reserved
In time to highlight the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop starting in Mexico City this coming Monday, here's a multimedia slideshow from the New York Times of the charreada. These are rodeos and fiestas rolled together, and are one of Mexico�s most popular sporting events, dating to the 17th century.

Similar to the US rodeos, the charreadas involve horse riding, bull riding and team roping. However, riders in the charreadas wear elaborate three-piece suits and women ride sidesaddle in their traditional fineries.

After criticism from animal rights and anti-rodeo activists, the events have been changed to reflect better and safer treatment of animals involved in these rodeos.

Here's The New York Times' Mexican Rodeos

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Chico Sanchez: Lady of Guadalupe

Photograph © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
With the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop starting in Mexico City this coming Monday, I had the good fortune of stumbling on the work of Chico Sanchez, a photojournalist based in Mexico City. He produced a slideshow on the pilgrims visiting the church of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is one of the projects I intend to work on with some of the students enrolled in my multimedia course.

Chico Sanchez worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelancing for various newspapers and magazines.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is known in Mexico as "La Virgen Morena", and her festival day is celebrated on December 12, commemorating her appearances to Saint Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9 through December 12, 1531. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the second most visited Roman catholic shrine in the world after the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican.

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And A Song Shall Carry Them Home

The Record, a newspaper group based in Stockton (California) has published a multimedia piece titled And A Song Shall Carry Them Home: The Journey of the Fermin Brothers. The story was authored by Jennifer Torres and photographed by Victor J. Blue.

Here's a synopsis of the story:

"Two years ago, a group of brothers left Acojtapachtlan, a village of about a dozen concrete houses in the hills of southern Mexico. They came to San Joaquin County without education, without money, certainly without permission. They brought little more than their ambition and hopes. One of them carried along a dream to save money, buy instruments and lead a band.

The brothers Fermin were like millions of other Mexicans who have crossed the border and like thousands who, even today, will attempt it. But the ties of home and family are strong. Two years of work in San Joaquin County had earned the brothers enough money for televisions, clothing, tools, accordions, guitars, speakers - and a truck to haul it back. On Oct. 17, the village of Acojtapachtlan was to honor its patron saint, San Lucas, with a festival. One of the brothers would stay behind in Stockton. Three wanted to be home in time to play their music at the festival."

An exceptionally topical and well done insight on who we describe as "illegal immigrants".

The multimedia story: And A Song Shall Carry Them Home

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NY Times: Mexico's Day of the Dead

Image © Janet Jarman/NY Times-All Rights Reserved
I completely forgot that it was the Day of the Dead or Da de los Muertos some 10 days ago. This a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and the Mexican community living in north America, but it's also observed in other Latin American countries.

The Mexican celebration occurs on November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day). Celebrating the dead may be considered morbid to other cultures, but celebrants consider the Day of the Dead as a joyful and happy occasion. The tradition is to celebrate and honor the lives of the deceased. It also celebrate the continuation of life, believing that death is not the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life.

In atonement for my oversight, here's a New York Times slide show on the Day of the Dead. The photographs are by Janet Jarman...I found the accompanying explanatory text to each image to be very useful, which is why I deem this particular slide show not exactly a 'fluff' piece for tourists.

By the way, this weekend is also Diwali for Hindus. When I stumble on a Diwali-themed photo essay, I'll post it.

The New York Times' Day of the Dead

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