Opposite Santo Domingo, a bolero (shoeshiner) walks up Macedonio Alcalá to work…
As the faces on the wall cry out, “Because we people of Oaxaca have memory and dignity, we demand justice” for the missing Ayotzinapa 43 normalistas (student teachers).
Posts Tagged ‘Black and white photography’
Going to work
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Protests, Tragedy, Travel & Tourism, Violence, tagged Ayotzinapa, Black and white photography, bolero, disappeared, Mexico, normalistas, Oaxaca, photos, protest stencil art, shoeshiner, stencils, street art, student teachers, Subterráneos Art Collective, urban art, wall art on October 7, 2021| 4 Comments »
Vaccine arrived and lines began
Posted in Health, Neighborhoods, Parks & Plazas, tagged Black and white photography, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, Covid-19 vaccine, lines of people, Mexico, Oaxaca, people waiting, photos, Plaza de la Danza, sidewalks on March 9, 2021| 17 Comments »
The headline in this morning’s newspaper read, “Without strategy to avoid crowds, vaccination against COVID-19 begins in Oaxaca.” Here in the greater Oaxaca de Juárez metropolitan area, there are 11 vaccination sites, distributing 23,090 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to people over 60 years old who have registered on a federal government vaccine eligibility site. Because I am a Residente Permanente (official permanent resident), I also was able to register last month. The vaccinations are scheduled to be given today, tomorrow, and Thursday, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and my plan had been to walk over to the Plaza de la Danza, my designated site, at 7:30 this morning.
Given it’s only a block away, early last night my neighbor and I walked over to scope the set up out. Boy, were we in for a shock — masses of people already lined Avenida Morelos, the street leading to the Plaza de la Danza.
The young man above looking at his cell phone, sitting on a stool in front of the School of Fine Arts, was number one in line. He arrived at 8:00 AM yesterday — 24 hours early.
Looking at the photos, I’m sure you are thinking, those people in line are awfully young looking to be over 60 — and you would be correct.
The overwhelming majority of people who were camping out on the sidewalks of the city were holding places for their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, and maybe even neighbors who were too old to spend the night on the streets.
The two guys in the foreground below were the last in the line on Galeana near Trujano at about 8:00 PM last night, though a couple more people were approaching as I was taking the photo.
The line snaked along at least six blocks. And, no, I did not join last night’s vigil. I will be patient, check the progress of the line a couple of times a day, and wait comfortably at home. According to a representative from Oaxaca’s Secretaría de Bienestar (Ministry of Welfare), there are enough doses for those registered and, should there be a need, they will get more. ¡Ojala!
Intangible cultural heritage
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, food, Mexico, National Day of Mexican Gastronomy, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street food stall, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 17, 2020| 3 Comments »
Yesterday, Mexico celebrated the National Day of Mexican Gastronomy and the tenth anniversary of traditional Mexican cuisine being designated by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Due to pandemic restrictions, in the absence of being able to savor the sights, smells, and flavors of a food festival, I honor the day with a photo of one of Oaxaca’s ubiquitous street food stalls.
This one, at the corner of Matamoros and García Vigil, always has customers — big and little, seated and standing, human and canine.
Benito’s birthday Monday
Posted in Health, Holidays, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged Benito Juárez, Benito Juárez quote, Black and white photography, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations on March 16, 2020| 5 Comments »
Today, I broke my self-imposed social-distancing exile and went for a walk around town. The traffic was unusually light and I wondered if all the tourists had flown the coop, going home while the going was good in the wake of COVID-19 and/or Oaxaqueños were beginning to heed the protective measures issued by the World Health Organization. However, the giant Mexican flag on the zócalo and closed banks, shops, and my dentist’s office tipped me off — today is the day Mexico celebrates her much beloved five-term and only indigenous (Zapotec) president, Benito Juárez. His actual birthday is March 21, but the third Monday of March has been designated as the national holiday. Three-day weekends are popular here, too!
Looking up today in Parque Labastida.
In these trying times, we would all do well to remember his famous words: Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz. (Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.)
Doorway into Zaachila
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, Fabián Calderón Sánchez, mural, Oaxaca, Sanez, street art, Villa de Zaachila, wall art, YNKL, Zapotec culture on May 28, 2019| 4 Comments »
From the land of Zaachila yoo (house of Zaachila)…
Villa de Zaachila pride in black and white by YNKL/Sanez.
Still life in black & white
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged Black and white photography, Casita Colibrí, container plant, Crown of Thorns, Euphorbia milii, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, succulents on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Stepping outside my front door, sometimes the play of light and shadow in Oaxaca takes my breath away.
Crown of thorns (aka, Corona de Cristo, Euphorbia milii) taken November 2018.
Remains of the day
Posted in Buildings, Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged abandoned buildings, Black and white photography, Día de la Samaritana, decorations, Mexico, Oaxaca, paper flowers, photos, popular travel destinations on April 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Even leftover decorations from a Día de la Samaritana agua station in front of an abandoned building are beautiful in their own way.
Seen on García Vigil at the corner of Jesús Carranza.
Carnaval in B&W
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, bodypaint, Carnaval, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Jacobo Ángeles, Mardi Gras, mascaras, masks, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, San Martín Tilcajete on March 6, 2019| 2 Comments »
Scenes from the streets of San Martín Tilcajete during yesterday’s Carnaval craziness.
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” – Eliott Erwitt
Suchilquitongo in black and white
Posted in Archaeology, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged archaeological zone, Black and white photography, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, Suchilquitongo on February 27, 2019| 2 Comments »
Visiting friends equals playing tour guide and exploring the sights, sounds, and tastes of Oaxaca. Thus, last Thursday off we went to the new-to-me, little known, and hard to find north-of-the-city archeological site of Suchilquitongo.
While the site is small and the excavated tomb is closed, for the views alone, it was well worth the trip.
Connections
Posted in Culture, Technology, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, connections, E.M. Forster quote, Mexico, Oaxaca, television cords on November 25, 2018| 5 Comments »
Restaurant still life in Oaxaca…
“Nonsense and beauty have close connections — closer connections than Art will allow.” —E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, Chapter 12 (1907).
Muertos memories in B&W
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, comparsa, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Día de Muertos, face painting, Magna Comparsa Oaxaca 2017, Mexico, muerteada, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on November 12, 2017| 2 Comments »
Looking back, in black and white…
Magna Comparsa Oaxaca through the streets of the city on October 28, 2017.
Reproduction cereusly
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, tagged Black and white photography, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pistil and stamen, plants, stigma and anther on June 30, 2017| 1 Comment »
Late yesterday afternoon, it looked like a night blooming cereus blossom would burst open for it’s one night only orgy with the pollinators of darkness. I’m guessing the hours-long torrential tormenta that thundered over Oaxaca put a damper on the action. This morning found only an ever-so-slightly opened blossom. So here, in black and white, I bring to you, up close and personal, cereus reproductive organs in waiting.
If you slept through the birds and the bees unit of high school biology (or it was too long ago to remember) and now you can’t tell a pistil from a stamen or the stigma from the anther, check out this cool little graphic (also in black and white) from the American Museum of Natural History.
Guys as gals at Carnaval
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, Carnaval, Carnival, cross-dressing, Mardi Gras, men dressed as women, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, San Martín Tilcajete, Shrove Tuesday on March 25, 2017| 3 Comments »
Among other highlights, Carnaval/Carnival in San Martín Tilcajete features a mock wedding, quinceañera, and beautiful fabulously dressed and accessorized “women.”
The day before Lent in San Martín Tilcajete 2017. As they say in New Orleans, “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”
Shades of grey
Posted in Education, Labor, Protests, tagged Black and white photography, education, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Seccion 22, Teachers union on August 22, 2016| 2 Comments »
Today was supposed to be the first day of school in Mexico, but not for most in Oaxaca. According to Sección 22 of the CNTE (teachers’ union), 90% of public schools did not open today. The Instituto Estatal de Educación Pública de Oaxaca (the government’s Institute of Public Education) puts the number at 52% of public schools in the state that remained closed.
Classrooms may have remained empty, but from the Monumento a Juárez to the Plaza de la Danza, teachers and their allies filled several of the main streets of the state’s capital in a mass march that took over an hour and a half to pass –part of the ongoing protests against the federal government’s education/labor reform.
Today, there are no winners, only losers — the kids. The weather provided a metaphor for the day — grey and depressing.
While not specific to Oaxaca, a new documentary by Al Jazeera, Child labour in Mexico, adds some context to the issue of education in Mexico, especially in the poorer regions of Mexico. At 16:36, the focus of the conversation turns to relating child labor to the problems of education, corruption, and poverty.
Guelaguetza in black & white
Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Black and white photography, dancers, Flor de piña, Guelaguetza, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Reyes Etla on July 26, 2016| 4 Comments »
Yesterday, two friends and I hailed a taxi and headed out of the city. We disembarked at the Viguera crucero, where we crowded into blogger buddy Chris’s car enroute to the intimate Guelaguetza in Las Peñitas Reyes Etla.
The day was overcast and there were a few light sprinkles, but the welcome we received on this grey day warmed our hearts.
As they have in past years, for three and a half hours, the members of the folkloric dance group, Danza Balachi, danced, changed costumes, danced, changed costumes, and danced some more.
The sun eventually made an appearance and our day ended with very yummy estofado at our favorite restaurant, Comedor Colón in Villa de Etla. It was a great day!
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