It was an amazine experience.
John contacted me only October 10. Impossible to realize the experience in Oaxaca because everything was sold out or prices are impossible, so I proposed him an alternative location: Puebla and some small towns around, always in the same state of Puebla. We did: Cholula, Atlixco, Huaquechula and, of course, Puebla. 4 intense days. First time in Puebla after 10 years in Oaxaca with my Day of the Dead Photography Expedition. And Puebla and the beatiful people surprised me. To the point that I can consider this location even next years. Fact is that if you want Oaxaca you need to book first months of the year, otherwiss is impossible and I will need to make the same of this year, by proposing an alternative location.
From the personal point of view I have to make some consideration: I was busy as a photo coach, not just making my photos. So the photographs reflect this particolar condition and mindset. My focus was to enjoy the experience as much as possible, to have also a portrait of Puebla those particular celebration days. Puebla is quiet respect to Oaxaca. Few years ago Dia de Muertos was not even so celebrated there. You have to consder these things too. Yet we were able to document how the Day of the Dead is in this magical place, magical in many aspects, last but not least of course the delicious food.
In my experiences I recommend to have an open mind, to be travellers and not tourists, understanding that a significant part of the journey involves improvisation, shaped by the people one meets. I have been to Puebla before, but not to the other locations. Consequently, a significant part of the experience involved discovering these places firsthand, but I consider that to be an inherent part of the traveler’s experience. If someone is merely a tourist, they will never be able to fully enjoy this kind of experience; in that case, I would suggest they book a trip through a travel agency, because what we offer, and what we do, is something else entirely.
With that said, I divided in several galleries my work during these 4 days.
For this work I used my Fujifilm X100T. Film simulation Black and white. Only JPG straight from the camera. Manual Exposure. Manual Focus.
The photos reflect completely my point of view of the entire experience, so some of them show while I was busy to explain certain things to my student (a street studio) or the things I achieved to see considering that my role was first of all to focus on the work of my student.
COMPARSA
DIA DE MUERTOS
THE HORROR ARM
A STREET STUDIO
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
PORTRAITS
CANDLE MASTER
MEZCAL PURO POTRERO
LANDSCAPE
I hope you enjoy this selection.
Puebla is another place that deserves to be discovered by photographers. For this reason I included it on my new proposal for street photographers who want a workshop with me. You already know I don’t make more group workshops. My experiences are only 1:1 tuition. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IMMERSION proposes now a 3 day street photography experience and you can choose between 7 cities.
Check out the proposal clicking the button.
