Every July, the Virgin of Zapopan, which is one of Mexico’s most important Catholic icons, makes an annual visit to Chapala. She travels with an escort of dancers, bikers and clergy from her home in the basilica in Zapopan, located in the suburbs northwest of Guadalajara, for a procession and mass. As Lake Chapala’s reina (queen), …
The Virgin of Zapopan Visits the Island of the Scorpions Read More »
The movement of these dancers blurs together during long exposures taken during religious processions in Ajijic, Mexico.
We meet in the street. He’s shaking uncontrollably and, since I’ve only been in Mexico for three months, I can’t understand anything he’s saying. It’s clear that Ismael Sanchez has a form of motor neuron disease, and that’s why he’s having trouble controlling his movements and making coherent speech. But this doesn’t stop him from …
In Central Mexico, a common way to decorate altars, graves and public spaces on the Day of the Dead is by making traditional sawdust carpets, called tapetes, which means carpet or rug. People make tapetes on the Day of the Dead in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico. Tapetes are sometimes created on the street and can span …
How to Make Sawdust Carpet Tapetes for the Day of the Dead Read More »
It’s been a couple months since I’ve posted here, but I’ve got a good reason. Last month I launched The Lakeside Guide, an extensive (and ever-growing) online guidebook to Ajijic, Mexico, the town where I’ve been living the for the past eight years. It’s got about 80 things to do, festivals and holidays, restaurants, shops, …
The Carnaval celebrations in Ajijic, Mexico, last for six days and feature some of the town’s most colorful characters, the masked zayacas. Nearby Chapala celebrates Carnaval for nearly two entire weeks, but as the events there are organized by the local government, it ends up being used more as a tourist attraction for tourists from …
Maria de Jesús Patricio Martínez is the first indigenous woman to attempt to run for Mexico’s highest office. Marichuy (Chuy is the nickname for Jesús) was nominated in May by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) to represent Mexico’s indigenous people in the 2018 presidential elections. To even be on the ballot, however, she has until …
I am more than a little excited to announce that Steve McCurry has chosen one of my photos as a winner for Life Framer’s World Travellers contest. McCurry has made some of the most iconic images in photography, including the “Afghan Girl,” whose famous penetrating green eyes peer from the cover of the June 1985 …
Life Framer’s World Travellers Contest With Judge Steve McCurry Read More »
Being the largest lake in Mexico, the views around Lake Chapala are vast expanses of water and sky. In the stormy, wet season of summer, clouds often interrupt the endless azure, but from fall through spring the skies are usually clear and the lake still. Using a special opaque filter, it’s possible to extend a …
A large sombrero with elegant, graceful lines makes for a wonderful photo, but the overhead sun often leaves the subject’s face lost in deep shadow. For the longest time, I had avoided taking photos in this kind of situation. But in these particular photos, a silhouetted face is the point.
The spirit of revolution is alive & well in Mexico, and celebrated with a national holiday each November 20. I’ll add more to this post later. In the meantime, check out the photos below and then see this photo essay about the women who helped win the Mexican Revolution to learn more about this important …
The Day of the Dead is less than two weeks away, so it seems appropriate to post this photo composite series about La Catrina that I spent time working on a couple years ago. Each is a composite of dozens of layers of adjustments, photos, and found textures. Except for a couple of the trees, …
Day of the Dead ofrendas are the centerpiece of the Day of the Dead celebration, one of Mexico’s oldest traditions and still an important way for modern families to maintain a connection with their ancestors. Candles left on a Day of the Dead altar certainly illuminate the altar at night for observers and the living, …
Candlelit Day of the Dead Ofrendas in Jalisco, Mexico Read More »
La Costeña is a famous Mexican canned food brand name, popular enough that you can find a can in any supermarket in the United States. You can also find empty cans of it, serving as flower vases, in graveyards throughout Mexico.
It’s October 1, one month before El Día de Muertos, so it’s officially OK to start getting into full Day of the Dead mode. And we’ll do so with these photos from 22 Mexican cemeteries that I’ve shot over the last seven years — from the very first day I was in Mexico after moving …
As diverse as Mexico is, the same can be said for its music. The country’s musical history started thousands of years ago with, of course, its indigenous people, and it continues evolving today in the bars, living rooms, and streets of its small towns and big cities. Banda, mariachi, norteño, and ranchera are among today’s …
In Mexico, where there are more saints (official and unofficial) than days available on the liturgical calendar, every day is a fiesta somewhere in the country. Even the cowboys have their own holiday. El Día del Charro — the Day of the Cowboy — is observed every September 14 in the bullrings and streets of …
El Día del Charro: The Day of the Cowboy in Jalisco, Mexico Read More »
The first stones of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City were put into place in 1573, taken from the rocks of a nearby Aztec temple, which Hernán Cortés and his gang of conquistadores destroyed after the Spanish invasion and occupation of Mexico 50 years earlier. The cathedral, assembled in parts over the centuries, now towers …
Walking on Top of Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral Read More »
VIDEO: Watch this short video of the guelaguetza performance in Chapala, Jalisco. Oaxaca’s guelaguetza is a cultural dance and music event that takes place each July in Oaxaca City. The two performances bring together dancers from Oaxaca’s eight regions and the hyper-localized traditional dress and customs of its 560 municipalities. Since 1998, the Oaxacan Renaissance Group …
I’m sure, since you’re the adventurous type, that you’ve always wanted to take a solo trip to the misty jungle mountains of Chiapas, to visit one of the rebel strongholds of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. But if you’re also like me, you’re completely baffled, probably, about how to begin, like trying to figure …
Landscape photography was my first venture in photography when I started taking photos eight years ago. So when I moved to Mexico a year later, in 2010, I took a lot of photos of landscape photos of Lake Chapala, sunsets, and egrets when I first got here. This was the best way to avoid embarrassment …
Watch this short video of this year’s procession of the Virgin of Zapopan in Chapala, Mexico. Each year on the second Sunday in July, the Virgin of Zapopan is escorted from her home in the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan to Chapala, some 35 miles away on the shore of Lake Chapala. She finds …
Mexico City is the second-largest city in the world with its population of 21.2 million. So it’s kind of a surprise to find this lush network of canals feeding off of its southern edge in the borough of Xochimilco. Before the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the town was a small center on the …
For many Mexican girls, their fifteenth birthday celebration, or fiesta de quince años, is the highlight of their teenage years. Sometimes these fiestas are planned years in advance and can cost hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the family. It’s kind of like a mix between a Jewish bat mitzvah and the debut …
Watch this video slideshow of photos taken in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. Chiapas: Defying Preconceived Notions of Mexico When you arrive in the colonial-era town of San Cristóbal de las Casas, eternally crowned by mountain clouds on Mexico’s southern tip, you would swear you had gone too far south and ended up in …
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas: Mexico’s Wonderfully Rebellious State in the South Read More »
In 2010, when I moved from the U.S. to Mexico, I was a passenger (for the second time) on a 2,200-mile road trip from Denver, Colorado, to Lake Chapala, Jalisco. I went with a friend, whose car was quite special, so we left all the driving to him. Along the way, there was plenty of …
Mexico at 55 MPH: Views From the Passenger Seat Along Mexico’s Highway 15 Read More »
VIDEO: Listen to 100,000s of thousands of gallons of tequila fermenting to the sound of Mozart at Tequila Cazadores in Arandas, Mexico. If you’ve ever lived a tequila lover’s dream and visited a distillery in Mexico, you’ll never forget the unique smell of the beautifully fermenting agave that follows you around — everywhere. It’s always …
By the time our 1994 fire engine red Suzuki Samurai — which my friend described as “basically like driving a covered motorcycle” — bounced across the Mexican border, we had already broken down once for three days in Arizona. Finally dipping our toes into Mexico after six months of anticipating our trip, then being forced …
It was time. After a year with an embedded, cookie-cutter shopping cart from Fine Art America, I needed a better way to sell prints online. Now you have it. I’m happy to announce that I’m now taking orders both here in Mexico as well as abroad. If your order is shipped to Mexico, I’ll handle …
Mother’s Day in Mexico is probably not like what you’re used to wherever you come from. In Mexico, it always falls on May 10 and here in Jalisco, it’s sometimes celebrated with games in the community bullrings. Certainly, not everyone observes Mother’s Day like this, but as seen by the filled seats, many do. In fact, …
I don’t often make it out to the small town of Mezcala, about 20 minutes west of Chapala. But when I do, I’m always glad I went. Everything there is tranquil and still, the kind of stillness in which the hours never seem to pass. But everywhere (everywhere) there are kids running around, playing in …
Another year of Carnaval celebrations in Ajijic, Mexico, has come and gone, and the masked sayacas along with it. These guys (mostly young men and boys dressed in drag) appear early each year in Ajijic during the town’s Carnaval celebrations, which stretch over several weeks leading up to the day of Mardi Gras, el Martes …
Coinciding with the opening of an exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art in Los Angeles, VICE’s Creators Project has penned a piece which features some of their favorite photos and illustrations, mine included. While it’s quite flattering to see my name included amongst so much talent, it does make me uncomfortable to be …
VICE’s Creators Projects Features Best of Latin American Photography Read More »
Cemeteries are not so much for the dead as for the living. Nowhere else could this be better illustrated than in Mexico, where the nation devotes three days and nights during the Day of the Dead to partying with family in the local panteón with the spirits of their dead relatives. In the heart of …
Panteón de Belén: a Historic Cemetery in Guadalajara, Jalisco Read More »
I had, as always, a blast photographing last month’s Day of the Dead celebrations. It can take a lot of effort to energize yourself to spend two days walking for hours on end, taking the bus from town to town, staying up until past midnight photographing the candlelit altars in the graveyards… all by yourself! …
The spirit of rebellion which formed during the Mexican Revolution, a 10-year affair that ended less than a century ago, still resonates today in modern Mexico. The insurgents who executed the coup are revered now as national heroes, and even the smallest rural town seems guaranteed to have its own calle or avenida named after …
I’m honored that one of my photos of Ajijic’s zayacos will be traveling the world as part of the “Los Diez” exhibit, which visits a number of museums and galleries in the Americas before arriving in Photoville in late 2017. The announcement was a complete surprise! 50 photographers had already won the Latin American Fotografia 5 …
October 31 – Halloween for most, but here in Ajijic the day is dedicated to the town’s patroness, the Virgin of the Rosary. Most incorporated towns in Latin America have a patron saint, as well as an incarnation of the Virgin Mary. Certain neighborhoods might have their own patron or patroness, as well. Even Ajijic, …
Fiesta of the Virgin of the Rosary in Ajijic, Jalisco Read More »
The Day of the Dead is a misnomer. It doesn’t last just a day, but three. November 2 is the main celebration, but the day before is known as Children’s Day or Day of the Little Angels (Día de los Angelitos). Some parents who have lost children will spend this afternoon creating an altar in …
Día de los Angelitos: Remembering Children on the Day of the Dead Read More »
I almost always forget that apart from a DSLR camera, I’ve got a pretty decent video camera in my hands whenever I’m taking photos. But I always feel like I’m missing out on a (potentially) great shot when I’m shooting video, so I rarely do it. Here’s a short, shaky video of the goings-on in …
Wandering Around in a Mexican Graveyard on the Day of the Dead Read More »
In the countryside of Jalisco, the way of the cowboy remains a lifestyle for a distinct few still practicing the 16th-century art of charrería. Apart from the daily clippety-clop of horse hooves on the cobblestone streets, the cowboys are a fixture of the many holiday parades around the small towns on the north shore of …
I’m honored that my friend the extremely talented artist, Cathy Chalvignac, decided to paint one of my photos. And delighted to have just received this beautiful canvas reproduction of it. Thank you, Cathy! Here are the two images overlaid upon each other in a short video.
The Day of the Dead altar is at once mysterious and visually legible, a cultural touchstone whose multi-layered symbology can be decoded by a knowledgeable observer. The holiday’s indigenous, millennia-old origin has been transformed and molded by centuries of Catholic and regional influence: it’s not celebrated exactly the same in any two regions. But there …
Deciphering the Meaning of the Day of the Dead Altar in Mexico Read More »
La Catrina has become an iconic part of the Day of the Dead since its modern rendition was introduced in 1910 by printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. Each November 2, students from the local preparatory high school in Chapala, Jalisco, set up dozens of elaborate altars for an entire block. The altars are not for friends …
Back in July, my friends Antonieta and Lucio invited me to their hometown in Oaxaca, to photograph the Fiesta de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo or: the Fiesta of the Precious Blood of Christ. The fiesta in Teotitlán del Valle lasts 11 days and features three spectacular processions where hundreds of women and girls walk …
Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca: The Fiesta de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo Read More »
Back from a short long-weekend trip to the two small cities of Morelia and Pátzcuaro. It was my first trip to Michoacán and it was charming, especially the “pueblo mágico” of Pátzcuaro, whose buildings have terracotta roofs and are painted the standard magic town colors of white and red. Barely had time to take in …
Morelia & Pátzcuaro: the Crown Jewels of Michoacán, Mexico Read More »
Happy to be included amongst the talented photographers selected for the Chroma exhibition at the Darkroom Gallery in Vermont. Susan Spiritus has selected my image “Gold and Blue Tones at Sunset on Lake Chapala” for the upcoming show focused on the theme of color.
I’m super pleased that Peter Turnley has chosen two of my photos to appear in an exhibition he’s juried for the Darkroom Gallery in Vermont this March. The theme is “Culture” and there are a lot of wonderful photographers who have been included. I’m honored that my stuff has been selected to appear alongside them, …
Two Photos in the Culture Exhibition for Darkroom Gallery Read More »
Sometimes a picture (or series of pictures) can only say so much. Here’s a short video of the Carnaval flour fights that go on between kids and masked “zayacas” in Ajijic, Mexico.
Have you ever seen a five-story, hand-assembled pyrotechnic castle exploding just a few meters in front of you? If not, you’ve probably never been to Mexico. But if you have, you might be asking, “Why don’t I recall seeing something like that at Señor Frog’s?” Watch this short video of the grand finale during a …
San Cristóbal de las Casas, in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, is a colonial city home to many old buildings, some dating to the original Spanish conquistadores almost 500 years ago. Though the buildings are beautiful, too many seem to be blighted by graffiti tags. Most of the graffiti are basic tags marking territory, but you’ll also …
Anti-Machismo Graffiti in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico Read More »
This past Tuesday was the Day of the Dead, my fifth in Mexico, and as always it was two beautiful days of traditions and remembrance, during one of Mexico’s most famous, and most Mexican, of holidays. I had an amazing time going from town to town visiting the cemeteries and taking pictures, both at day …
Last month I took a trip to Chiapas – and I went to Oventic, one of the headquarters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). The Zapatistas are a peaceful resistance army of indigenous villagers in the mountains and jungles of Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest and southern-most state. Chiapas feels like another country. When you’re there, you …
The Transcendental Revolutionary Zapatista Murals of Oventic, Mexico Read More »
Mexico has thousands of towns and cities, and each one usually has its own patron saint and Marian devotion, each with its own unique way of celebrating its Catholic and indigenous history. In San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, we have the Fiesta de Los Panzones. The fiesta of the fatties. The party of …
Fiesta de Los Panzones — or Parade of the Fatties Read More »
Fishing is one of the important industries at Lake Chapala, Mexico, providing income and putting food on the table for some people. Though pole fishing is not uncommon, the most popular way to catch fish is with hand-thrown nets, tossed from a boat or by someone who’s waded chest-high into the water.
Here are a few images from the overcast February días de Carnaval in the bullring in Ajijic, Mexico. After a parade through town, the cowboys, kids and families end up at the local bullring for games, bull roping, horse dancing and other tricks.
A girl dresses up as an Aztec goddess during the 2015 New Year’s Day parade in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.
All images © Dane Strom
