After almost 2 years, I'm officially back!

It has taken me two years to post again. Which is almost as much time as I've been away from a gallery. Kind of sad, so here we're again, getting back into the photo-mood. Lately life has been filled with airport, passport controls, planes and new images. I can't recall a time in my life in which I've traveled more than these days (not even when freelancing for the Rough Guide in Eastern Europe).
I need a new photo project (Mario we need to get back to that), but in the meantime at least I can start posting again some of what captures my eye these days...

And life's good, travelling light.

This picture was taken at Capachica, at Lake Tikicaca not a month ago. It was our bus stop to get back to Puno. Coolest bus stop view ever. Coolest company too. A great trip...

Spring

I received an email from Ivan last Sunday. He wrote about Germany, about going to London, about his plans... and about Spring. He was saying something I always say about Northern Europe and Spring: How you can clearly tell when Spring has finally arrived.

There is a day. A day in which the sun is shinning and everybody is smiling. A day in which you break away from winter and start feeling different. A kind of rebirth after winter. Everybody hit the streets, lay on the sun, sit down outside the pub with a beer... and girls change their clothes and their expressions to the point that you barely recognize them any longer.

For a southern soul it's all pretty amazing to contemplate for the 1st time...

My 1st "real" spring day was in 1999, St. Patrick's Day, in London. The day I took this picture. The day I took Valerie's pictures as well.

I woke up early today. I was reading something from Kyoichi Katayama, looked out of my window and saw that our garden tree is finally blossoming. And thought about Ivan's email. And thought about you too...

Porra de Tacubaya

"Porra" is the Mexican name for a group of supporters that get together, use the same colors, and cheers for the same team, or fighter like in this case.

Another picture from the Arena Mexico. Of this one I like the warm lighting, the texture and the fans expressions when their guy lost his combat...

Lucha Libre!

At the Arena Mexico, a couple of weeks ago. They don't allow anyone to take pictures, so I had to sneak this one. I was really moved by the entire atmosphere of the place. Can't really be described with words... It was my first visit, I'd to wait a long time before finally convincing my friends to go.

Have been thinking about doing something in the Arena. The place and the people are amazing. Would fit nicely on the exhibition about Mexico that I'm currently working on. Now all I need is to get a permit to get in there with my Nikon!

It has been a crazy month of March. Way too intense. Too much work too and no sight of slowing down.

Cold January Day

Yesterday it was as cold as it will ever get around here... it really was chilly. Yet these kids were having a great time and didn't seem to be worried by the very cold sea water.

Went to Puerto Morelos for a fish meal and tequila (it was way too cold for beer). That pretty little place never fails to make me feel good.

New Year's Eve in Playa del Carmen.

And first picture of 09. A kind of Mayan Riviera Times Square, but with no clock on sight to kick the year off... it was funny to see how each little group of people decided to start their celebrations at different times...

Happy 2009!

When life was easy...

...and everything was possible. Can you remember it? It really was...

Looking for dolphins

During a ferry ride to Holbox Island, a little girl and her granny look to the ocean, searching for dolphins. A high key image, but its color rendering is not that far out from reality. This is the 2nd image of this set that I'm publishing.

TGIF

And that I'm a bit closer to the beach that I was on Monday... I think the beach is the single best thing on Earth.

Xochimilco, Mexico DF

I like mariachis... They're always so much fun.

I took this picture in Xochimilco last year. The canals (what's left of the ancient Lake Xochimilco) are very popular on weekends and bank holidays, when many Mexican families and tourists rent boats ("trajineras") complete with mariachis and food. If you ever happen to visit Mexico City during a weekend, this is a "must do" activity.

Midnight on July 9th, 2006 (Rome, Piazza Venezia)

I was there. Partying like a "vero romano", after Italy's victory over France on the 2006 Soccer World Championship's Final... Everybody was totally crazy, and nobody wanted to go back home. I like this shot, it reflects well how was to be there, on that very emotional night. And I miss Rome too...

Voladores de Papantla

Last Saturday I posted a picture about Tepoztlan, the birth place of Quetzalcoatl, and today I'm posting a picture of a Volador ("flyer") de Papantla.

This is a 1,500 years old rite dedicated to Quetzalcoatl ("the morning star"). The ritual itself is called "The Tree of Life", and is a meditation about the mystery of life and a calling to keep the world in balance within ourselves.

It never stops to amaze me.

Wiener Naschmarkt

An old picture rescued from my archive. Today, Kika left behind what was the start of a novel that I started to write a while ago. The story was partly set in Vienna. My mind works with images, so as soon as I started to read it... this one came to my mind.

I love food markets, and this must be one of my favorites.

Billy Joel's "Vienna" song also came to mind. As well as my "1st proper" camera, a Ricoh KR10M that I'd to trade-in to buy a Pentax Super A and a SMC 50mm f1.4. I was a student, living and working in London, and money was in short supply. I try not to be very romantic about those days... but now that I think about it... I really really really do miss my old camera.

London Underground - Victoria Line

For some reason I woke up this morning with this image in my head. I guess I've been missing home lately. I took this one a long time ago, in 1992 when I was starting to play with cameras, and I'd just discovered Kodak Tri-X.

Don't ask me why, but in this blog I'm having a great time showing images that I've captured using totally unglamorous equipment. In this case, a Ricoh KR10M, the 1st camera I bought with my own money when I was 16 years old. BTW the standard Ricoh lens was truly awful when it came to flare.

Once, just for the fun of it, I posted this same picture in a Leica photo contest... only to recieve positive reviews from "fellow" Leica photographers talking about the beautiful grainy/3D effect that "my Leica" lens had rendered.

Hacienda de Henequen

For a brief moment in history, around 1880, Yucatan was one of the richest regions of the planet thanks to a peculiar kind of cactus that thanks to its rich fiber content, was used to make everything from ropes, to bags, to shoes...

Those glory days are long gone (synthetic fiber anyone?) but a couple of very small, scaled down, henequen operations (I won't be so bold as to name them "Haciendas") still survive. Ake, as I was writing yesterday, it's one of them.

This guy turned to be a complete nutter and manage to scare Kika. For me, he was just another zombie on this very eerie place...

Valladolid

Valladolid it's an old colonial Yucatecan town. Usually no more than a quick "souvenir-shopping" stop for tourists traveling to Chichen Itza, the town actually deserves better than that.

It has the oldest church in Yucatan (built in 1552), a spectacular cenote (Dzitnup), and a pretty good restaurant and charming hotel at the main square or "Zocalo" (El Meson del Marques).

I love to go there for dinner, and then walk around the square and check what the local Mayan ladies have for sale... Another candid shot, like the previous one.

Restaurante Kinich

I had to promise Bruce that I'd take Kika to this restaurant, so I finally did last Saturday. The best place to eat in Izamal, and the most charming too. The girls were having a laugh and I couldn't resist it, I'd to capture the scene.

The picture is slightly cropped, it was a candid snapshot so I didn't have the time to compose it. I like this one, makes me smile.

Ferry to Isla Mujeres

I love ferry rides. Especially when it's sunny, on a weekend, and everybody is in a good mood. Which in the Caribbean it's pretty much always... I like this photo, it's sweet. It works for me.

Ferry to Holbox Island

Street and photo-reporting photography is where I come from. And what I enjoy the most too.

This photo was captured on the ferry that connects Chiquila with the Island of Holbox about a year ago. I had just bought the G7 and was having as much fun using it, as I ever had with any other camera.

The light was bright and beautiful, the sea had that incredible shade of Caribbean Blue, and I was travelling with friends (and my then would-be fiance). What else can you ask for? A lovely day as it ever was.

The little girl was travelling with her grandmother. They both looked so happy and in synchrony with the place. When dolphins came to greet our ferry... I was ready to capture the moment.

Puerto Morelos

I took this one 2 weekends ago, in neighboring Puerto Morelos. The fishermen were having fun with all those birds flying around their boat trying to get their daily fish ration... The light was beautiful, a perfect summer day bathed in Caribbean blue..

Another one with the little Canon G7. Somebody once told me that the best camera is the one that you have in your hands, ready to shoot. I guess that's why I enjoy pocket cameras so much. They may have their limitations, but they're always ready at hand. A G7 may be slow to start up, but at least it's always in my jacket pocket, ready to go. I cannot say that about my big Oly, resting in its bulky back-pack... by the time it's out of the bag, and the lens cap has been placed in my pocket... the "definite moment" is long past.