15
Jul
2009
Celestún Prints
There are two beach destinations near Mérida. The closest is Progreso, a typical destination for the locals and from everything I heard a bit crowded and just not quite as pretty as the further destination, the fishing village of Celestún. Celestún is in the midst of a large bird sanctuary (Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicano – also known as the “Celestun Biosphere Reserve”). As you can tell from the Spanish name, it’s a roost for Flamingos, their winter home (although I saw plenty in summer, maybe winter for southern hemisphere?). At any rate, as you can tell, I chose the further beach. It was sort of a two fold thing, I had a yen to rent a car and wander a bit further afield than local transport would take me but didn’t really want to spend another day on the local buses trying to make connections on a limited time vacation. I had planned to also see some of the ruined Haciendas, but as it turned out, it took me awhile longer than I expected to get out there and I had no desire to be even close to dark on those country roads, so I spent my full day in Celestún taking in the easy going beach life.
When I say Celestún is pretty much in the midst of nowhere, I mean it. I drove for awhile and the only English speaking radio station in Mérida died out. I switched over to a nearer Spanish speaking station… it too died out… and then there was nothing but me singing loudly (and badly) as the road passed beneath me. I somehow made it with my sanity intact and as I pulled into this sleepy little town and parked on the square, I wondered had it been worth it. And then… well they say pictures speak louder….
Ferries to Nowhere
Ferries to Nowhere is a bit of a misnomer perhaps, but it’s the first name I thought of. Nowhere is a loop. Pretty much all Celestún boat trips follow a predictable path. In some order, you’ll see the Flamingos, a “petrified forest,” mangroves and a beautiful blue pool in the midst of the mangroves. And then back to the beach you left after a couple of hours or more, but it will feel like no time at all has passed and ,if your experience matches mine, you’ll feel exhilarated. While I wandered the beach for a bit taking photos, I knew all along I was going to find my way onto a boat if I could help round out someone’s group.
Unknown Horizons
Of course, most of my photos are of that beautiful ocean. The colors of the gulf waters on this side of the Yucatan were just fantastic and the water was so, so calm. This photo for me, is really the soul of freedom, a wide and wonderful beautiful world before you and nothing holding you back but the one thin rope to the shore… Did I use enough adjectives to describe this? How about I just shut up and show you another beautiful boat picture?
Hoist The Anchor
Can you believe it? More of those impossibly blues and greens and then the bright yellow of that little boat completes the photo. Really just too gorgeous to believe. And these little boats at first didn’t seem to sea worthy, and you’re definitely not going out on the QE2, but it was a lovely experience. In my case, speaking no Spanish, I first had to deal with the language barrier trying to get onto a boat. Finally someone who spoke a little English came and helped the boat captains figure out who needed another party (which helps the price of the trip for everyone in the boat). I don’t remember what it cost but it was really reasonable. I was the only native English speaker on my boat. There was a trio from Europe, one of whom spoke some Spanish and another of whom spoke some English, so everything I heard about the things we saw was translated twice. And it didn’t matter a bit. I had a great time when my chance to board one of these boats came…
Ghost Forest
I figured I should balance this post just a little and show something other than picturesque boats. This is the “Petrified forest” – I read later that it’s not truly a petrified forest. I still don’t understand the details, but apparently this was once a forest but “saltwater infiltration” occured and the roots were suddenly in deadly salt water instead of fresh and the forest died off. I would never have expected such stark beauty from a dead forest, but there was something brooding and majestic about this place.
If you’d like to see more boats and more photos of Mexico, please check out my Mexico Prints.
13
Jul
2009
Mérida – Yucatan Capital Prints
Mérida is the capital city of the Mexican state of the Yucatan. The Spanish founded it in 1542 on the foundations of an older Maya City, T’ho. Because it’s foundations were laid on an older city, Mérida is said to be one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the Americas and its centro historico (Historic district) is among the largest. Mérida has architecture stretching from it’s foundations to today gracing it’s easy to follow numbered streets. Because of the hot temperatures (at least in the summer), the city tends to close down in the afternoon and re-open as the sun goes down. I never did figure out when they close back down again! Even the local car rental place I used one day while I was there closed in the afternoon and re-opened in the evening.
Mérida Cathedral
The Cathedral in Mérida may not be the largest or grandest on the earth, but it is the oldest in the mainland of the Americas. It is also far older than one might think. The Cathedral was built between 1561 and 1598, using readily available stone. The Spanish pulled down the temples the native Maya had built and used it in this cathedral. This photo was taken in the late afternoon as the city was just waking up again. The warm glow is from the sun hanging in the west.
Iglesia de Santa Ana - Mérida
The city of Mérida is a collection of neighborhoods or barrios built around neighborhood churches. This is probably among the older ones and was likely built on the platform of a Maya temple. Originally built in the 1500s, the Iglesia de Santa Ana was built to serve indigenous Maya and mulattoes. The church was reconstructed in the 1700’s and in the 1800’s, the nearby Paseo de Montejo, a wide Parisian style boulevard was built and this barrio became the address to have. The people who lived in the area were eventually pushed into other parts of the city. Today, it’s a beautiful if eclectic church (observe the pyramids on the towers).
Wired
This photo is the epitome of Mexico (in my mind anyway). Gorgeous colors and textures that just call for photos. No matter how much you upkeep things in this partof the world, nature is constantly fighting you. Anywhere else, I would fight heaven and earth to eave out the power lines, but here, they are such a huge part of the landscape it’s hard to imagine a photo without them (despite the fact that they obviously weren’t there when these buildings were new). This photo is from the streets of Mérida, a simply beautiful and friendly city.
Neon Dreams
Mérida is very much a place that’s proud of it’s city. It’s an incredibly clean place where they have managed to preserve so many of the buildings that have been built there over the centuries. I don’t know any of the history of this theater, but it looks very art deco to me and there was a sign that I believed indicated it was owned by the government, but very much still an active part of the community. On my last night in town, I managed to catch this shot of it with the marquee and neon lights accenting the architecture. An enjoyable shot both for the place and for those of us who love these old movie palaces.
More photo prints from Mérida are available in my Mexico Prints.
10
Jul
2009
Puuc Hills – Uxmal & Kabah Prints
If you’re ever planning a trip into the Yucatan to see ruins, you should really try to get into the Puuc Hills. From Mérida, Uxmal and Kabah are an easy day trip, but there are more Puuc Hill ruins to see to the extent I wish I had more time when I visited to travel a bit further afield. None-the-less, the ruins I did see were excellent. The ruins in this area of the country have the distinction of having a style of Maya architecture named for them. They are also different from their low land counterparts in not being built over Cenotes (sink hole access points to the underground rivers of the Yucatan). Instead, the Maya built large cisterns in these cities to capture rain water for the dry months. If the theory that droughts were largely responsible for the end of the Maya way of life, these people were probably the first to suffer.
Uxmal, the first place I visited is still touristed but not nearly so heavily as Chichen Itza. People were living at Uxmal around 500 AD. It flourished for sometime as the main city in the region, but it’s star dropped after the fall of Chichen Itza. By the time the Spanish arrived, Uxmal was already largely abandoned.
Uxmal - The Nuns Quadrangle
This is part of a large complex of buildings adjacent to the main pyramid at Uxmal. The first Spaniards to study this location thought that it looked like a nuns convent, hence the name. It’s believed that these buildings may have been a school for princes. This was the last building of the quadrangle, note the masks on the corner, these are masks of Chac Mool, the rain god, and are on each corner of this building. Also note the elaborated decorations. This is typical of the Puuc style. The prominence of Chac Mool highlights the importance of rain to the people living here.
Palacio del Gobernador - Uxmal, Mexico
This is another of the buildings at Uxmal, said to be one of the best examples of the Puuc style. Built in the 9th an 10th centuries, it was probably an administration building for the region. As with other Maya buildings, it is aligned with the heavens, the main door lines up with the planet Venus.
Inheritance of the Maya
The site of Kabah is yet less touristed and there’s been far less reconstruction here. There was a city here as early as the 3rd century which reached it’s height around the 8th. By the 11th century, the site was abandoned. This palace appears to have had 30 or more rooms and is remarkably intact considering how long it’s been since it was inhabited.
Uxmal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kabah is not listed, but should be on the list of anyone who appreciates the ruins of our past cultures.
More photo prints from both sites are available at my Mexico Prints.
2
Jul
2009
London Calling – Print Available
To date, my most popular print was taken on my second trip to the UK in May of 2005. I have always had a fondness for the traditional British Red Telephone Boxes. There’s something about them that immediately says Britain. I simply cannot tell you how many photos I’ve taken of them in previous and subsequent trips. In some ways, they have very much become dinosaurs in this age of mobile phones, but from Scottish Islands to city streets in London, you’ll still find these boxes dotting the landscape.
The first Red Telephone Box was the result of a competition in 1924 and was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. There were a few iterations culminating in the current design in 1935 to celebrate the silver jubilee of King George V. This is the familiar design that has found its way throughout the United Kingdom and beyond today.
London Calling - Red Telephone Box
This particular phone booth was photographed near the Embankment Tube Station near the Thames. It was taken with my simple point and shoot Olympus camera. Obviously, I then utilized photoshop for the final product, converting the image to black and white and then with a virtual brush, removing the black and white layer just from the phone box to allow the booth to really shine. While I’ve seen this type of selective color treatment done frequently, it’s definitely a style that requires just the right image. I believe I found it in this case.
Although so far I have mainly created work that was destined to be printed for display, this is one work that I have also converted into a popular t-shirt which is also available.
London Calling T-shirt
13
Jun
2009
Rome Prints
As I’ve continued my trek through the archives (bless the down time), I’ve posted some more prints from Rome. If you want to see them all, check out my Italy Photo Prints.
Some Highlights:
The Pantheon - Rome, Italy
Before I went to Rome, it seemed like I had seen a dozen documentaries on ancient Rome that included information on the Pantheon, the ancient temple to all the Roman gods. This is actually the second Pantheon, built in AD 126. It’s amazing to stand before a building built nearly 2 millennia ago, a building which is still in use today no less! It was given to the Pope in AD 609 and has since then remained a Roman Catholic church, Santa Maria dei Martiri. It’s the fact it was converted into a church for the new religion that enabled it’s survival. Most of the other buildings of antiquity were abandoned and fell into ruin. The interior retains it’s original mammoth concrete dome roof and the niches for the pagan gods (minus the original statues). In addition it has become an honored burial place for noted Italians such as the painter, Raphael.
Piazza della Rotonda - Rome, Italy
This print is a view of the Piazza directly in front of the Pantehon (as viewed from the Pantheon portico). Rome is a collection of these piazza’s – outdoor plazas where the Italians and the tourists vacationing there eat, drink, shop, and socialize. This particular piazza is arguably the most central one in the Centro Storico (or historic district). This is where ancient Rome lay and although the buildings today are not 2,000 years old like the Pantheon, they clearly exude that old european feel complete with mediteranean colors. The recent rains also highlight the sampietrini, the traditional basalt cobbles that have been used in Rome since the 16th century. The sampietrini mimic the ancient cobbles of Rome but are smaller than their predecessors.
Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano - Rome, Italy
Finally, a street level view of the center of the Roman Catholic church, the Holy See, Saint Peter’s Basilica. Although often called a cathedral, this is technically incorrect since Cathedrals are the seat of a Bishop, as the church of the Pope, this is a papal basilica. There has been a church on this site since the 4th century AD, but the present day church was built in the 16th and 17th centuries. At the time of this visit, it was between Christmas and the Epiphany, a festive period in Italy. You’ll note in the photo that the piazza is decorated for the season. The moody skies in this photo make this a strong black and white photo.
