Empty Handed

We'll be going back to Texas before too long and I can't go empty handed. I have to take back some prints to show my photography friends so they will know I'm not retired from photography. Interesting, as I looked through what I had shot since I saw most of them in the Fall, the only images that I wanted to print were Holga images. So far I've printed 17 images and I have a few more that I want to print. So I figure that I'll have about 25 images printed and maybe narrow that down to about 15 when I actually bring out the portfolio box.

While I don't shoot with the Holga everyday, I do shoot fairly often with it. My success ratio isn't great. It is pretty intimidating when you have a friend who goes on a trip and in six days comes back with about 40 great images and makes a hand-made book in a little over a month. Want to take a look at Frank Armstrong's book Road Sides.

But before we take off for Texas, we are heading down the road to Mexico City. Check out some museums, some restaurants. I'm taking a couple of Holgas and lots of film. I'm challenged to see what I can do in a couple of days.

Empty Bucket

When the cameras become millstones,
And the eyes wander aimlessly
but see nothing that captures the imagination
The bucket is empty.
The artist date is past due.

Time to sit still
Observe, Listen, Absorb
The deep shaded portico of a coffee shop.
I sit at one end of the portico in solitude
At the other end ladies on facing sofas talk softly
Another table, a young man lost in a laptop
He could be Mexican or a vagabond through Mexico
I close my eyes and try to picture where he will go next

The shade is deep and a soft breeze touches my neck
But the courtyard, surrounded by plants, is brilliant
Some of the plants are old and need pruning
some need fertilizer
some need fertilizer and pruning
A moment of longing for my garden that now belongs to someone else
The birds sharp chatter in the citrus tree brings me back
to this moment in time
The Now
Where one brave sparrow flies to the fountain
He lingers only for a sip
No time for a bath
Bees cluster around the fountain
are they finding honey water

I take slow deep breaths
Storing away the smells, the sounds, the images
Peace and contentment fill my chest
All is good
My bucket isn't empty now
There are questions
How do you photograph peace and contentment
How do you photograph a gentle breeze on the skin
How do you photograph the sound of a trickle of water from the fountain
There may be no answers
But now the camera is a feather

Mexican Houses and Maintenance

In Mexico, at least our part of Mexico, we live in houses made of brick, concrete and tile. You would think that upkeep on these houses would be minimal. Not true. This month we have had the exterior of the house repainted for the second time in 6 years, put on new toilet seats, repaired a plumbing leak, had the landscaper back to repot plants that have outgrown their containers and refresh the terrace gardens. The painter is coming back to put on some more impermeabilizante where water is seeping into the wall. We have a spot on the wall that we aren't sure what is causing it but in order to investigate it may mean taking the cabinet off of the wall to see what is happening behind it. This could mean carpenters, albanils and painters. The fish pond needs some attention. The tree trimmer is coming to cut back the fushia bougainvillea that grows up the wall of the patio. The locksmith has been here to fix a couple of locks. Who knows what next month will bring.

And besides the maintenance, we are still gradually adding to or changing the furnishings. Ned just can't understand why I don't just go buy stuff and finish decorating the house. I don't want to do that. It is more fun to have some ideas of what you want and always be looking for it. When you see it, you KNOW....this is it!

For example, I have been thinking that a bar height table and swivel chairs would be a nice addition to the terrace over the studio. It would be a good place to sit and have a drink in the late afternoon and look over the city as the lights gradually come on. I've looked but just didn't like what I saw. Would you believe that when we were at Home Depot buying the toilet seats, there was the perfect table and chairs. Done Deal! They were delivered Tuesday and as you can see in the picture they look great on the terrace. Of course they bring another project....cushions for the chairs.

Aprons As A Symbol

Jennifer Rose wrote this comment to my post about aprons:

Several years ago, an Estadounidense put together an exhibition, perhaps accompanied by a book, about what aprons represented. Signifying a transition into a certain role, status and respect, the concept of an apron went far beyond simply protecting the wearer’s clothing. There’s even a hierarchy of aprons – whether it’s full coverage, front- or back-opening, a bib or a half-apron. There are dirty-work aprons and more ceremonial ones. Somewhere, and I’d guess around June Cleaver’s time, the apron lost its status and became a sign of oppression for women. Among the Estadounidense women of my generation, I can’t name a single one who would be caught dead wearing an apron. And in my kitchen hangs, only as a decoration, a white chef’s apron with my name embroidered upon it, that I received at a cooking school team-building corporate event. I put it on, because I had to at the event, and haven’t donned it since.

Wow! I had only been thinking about aprons as I see them here in Mexico or as I remember them from my childhood but her comments brought up a lot of thoughts about how women's roles in the United States have changed so radically during my lifetime. "Not being caught dead wearing an apron" rates up there with "bra burning." Not wearing an apron for some generations of women is a symbol, a demonstration, that we can't be relegated to just child rearing or house cleaning.

I remember how I bristled when in business meetings and one of the men would use the term "girls" for the women. I never let them get by with it. Sometimes when I think about it now, I wonder if my agressiveness on this point was over-blown but I think not. I don't think the men knowingly meant any harm and yet it reflected an in-grained prejudice that allowed them to think of which MAN they would promote over which GIRL. A Man was manly and a girl needed protection. Could a girl stand up to the rigors of a difficult job like a Man? Well I could go on and on along these lines but for the women who lived though those times in the business world in the 1970's, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Wikipedia has a slightly different take on why the use of aprons declined. They tie it back to the 1960s when washing machines and cheaper clothing reduced the need for the protection that an apron affords. However Wikipedia also comments:

Today, the apron has enjoyed a minor renaissance in terms of both women and men now wearing them when performing household chores. For instance, an article in the Wall Street Journal claimed in 2005 that the apron is "enjoying a renaissance as a retro-chic fashion accessory" in the United States.
Jennifer mentioned an exhibition that was accompanied by book. I found it, Apron Chronicles, A Patchwork of American Recollections and now it is on my Amazon Wish List.

Aprons

I doubt that some of my younger readers have ever seen aprons like these but here in Mexico they are very common. Senora Cervantes, who lives across the street from us, already has on her apron about 7:15 every morning when she scrubs down the sidewalk in front of her house. Carmela puts on her apron first thing in the morning when she arrives to help with the housework.

I remember my grandmother wearing an apron like these and I think that I remember my mother wearing one too but I know she did because I have a picture of her hanging out the laundry wearing one when I would have been a very young little girl. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between actual memories and old snapshots that you have seen.

Here in Mexico you will see aprons for sale in the Mexican markets. The nicest ones have embroidery, big pockets and deep pleats. The women need them because there are not a lot of labor-saving appliances and cooking and cleaning is dirty work.

Growing Pains

Can you imagine playing marbles on cobblestones? When we moved into our Casa in San Miguel de Allende, the boys were playing marbles on the cobblestone streets. And we had a whole bunch of little boys about 9 to 12 years old. About a year later the big game was throwing rocks at each other. Well in our narrow streets that meant that rocks also hit the houses and sometimes windows. I have to admit that sometimes they picked out a target for practice. Sometimes that was a street light or a porch light.

One of the best rock chunkers was a thin short boy with ear-length hair dressed in the required low slung, cut-off jeans, oversize T-shirts and high-top tennis shoes with the laces dragging the ground. One day, I called Ned to the kitchen window. "Do you think that boy is growing breasts?" I asked. His response was, Mmmmmm maybe. Well, the answer became apparent over the next few months that this boy was a girl. She dressed in skirt and sweater to go to school but as soon as she got home it was back to dressing like the boys, walking like the boys and chunking rocks. Five years later, she has grown long hair and wears it in a pony tail. She uses make-up and wears more form-fitting T-shirts. She giggles with the girls but hangs out with the boys in the street at night. We can't wait to see what she does next.

The boys too have grown up. Now they are into music....loud music. The twin boys who live next door are the most annoying with their music but thank goodness it is during the day and not late at night. But the problem with day-time music is that it sometimes coincides with siesta time. They play it loud but not so much that the windows vibrate like sometimes happens when a truck with its windows rolled down slides down the street with the monster speakers turned up to full bass.

Some of the boys have girlfriends now and they have taken over our entry steps from some of the older kids who have moved on to other places to make out. Sometimes when we are up on the terrace and look down at the steps we see some snuggling and kissing and sometimes when we come around the corner at night, two figures will jump up from the steps and smooth clothes as they get up and give us room to climb the steps.

The little girl next door, the twin's sister, has grown up. From our terrace we watched her practice on the roof-top for the presentation dance for her Quinceanera.

The boys who looked at the ground and barely mumbled when we spoke to them five years ago, now look us in the face and say, Buenos tardes when they see us.

Maybe it is because we are retired, or maybe it is because we are in a different culture, or maybe it is because we live side-to-side with our neighbors, but I think we have been more observant of these children than we were the children in our suburban neighborhood in Houston. It has been interesting watching them grow into teenagers.

Modernization

I remember back in the old days (like back in the early 90's) while on a trip in Oaxaca I was so excited to see what looked like lighted cones being used at a road construction site. But as we got closer, I realized that they were yellow plastic buckets that were turned over on a string of light bulbs and the buckets had rocks on the top of them to keep them from getting knocked over in the wake of a fast traveling truck. But that was progress over just putting rocks in the road to warn travelers of danger. So many things have been modernized in Mexico in the last 15 or so years.
This cherry picker truck clearing tree limbs from over the electric lines belongs to CFE (The Electric Company). Ned saw the truck on his way to the gym this morning and he called me on his cell phone. I grabbed the camera and walked over to Allende.

This is News! We can remember three years ago when CFE came through our neighborhood and had men climbing up in the trees with machetes to chop off limbs. The result was the tree was left with splintered limbs.

Now we have a cherry picker with double buckets and the men are wearing hard hats and safety gear. Mexico is Modernizing!

Dried Fish

In the market in Patzcuaro there was a whole section of the market with tubs and tubs of dried fish. From tadpole size to the size of the palm of your hand. I'd seen dried fish in markets before but never so many varieties and sizes. So of course I went looking for some Mexican recipes that used the dried fish. The one recipe that I found in my Mexican cookbooks was a Home-style Bacalao recipe in Frida's Fiestas, Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo.

But I found out a lot more about dried fish. Traditionally fish were dried and sometimes salted to preserve them since there was no refrigeration. Portugual, Italy and Northern Spain developed recipes for dried fish and salted dried fish. These recipes were included in the special meals on Christmas Eve and on Good Friday during Holy Week. The Italians seem to have made the best use of dried fish using them in numerous kinds of recipes.

I'm not sure whether the recipes for dried fish came to Mexico along with the Spaniards or if it came later in the immigration of Italians to Mexico in the late 1800's and early 1900's. It just seems strange to me that I can't find any recipes for the tiny little fish. In the market in Uruapan I have been offered and I ate some of those little fish fried....maybe with a light batter. They were delicious. I could see having them as a appetizer.

Since there were tubs and tubs of dried fish in the markets, there has to be more Mexican recipes. Do any of my readers have Mexican recipes for the dried fish besides the Bacalao?

Secret Recipe - Chutney Spread

As you know, I love dinner parties where the food is good and the conversation at the table is even better. In the last 10 days we have been to three dinner parties and we have given a couple of dinner parties. Conversation has been especially interesting as the discussions have definitely included the American political campaigns.

But back to the food. I've cooked some old favorites and added a couple of new ones. Last night the menu was:

Chutney Spread
Roasted Pork Loin
Roasted Asparagus
Chopped Caesar Salad
Couscous with Engish peas and carrots
Homemade vanilla ice cream with bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

The Chutney Spread with crackers was a hit again last night. It always is. But let me tell you how it came to be in my recipe list. One year I gave back-to-back Christmas Parties....well come on....not such a big deal. Once the house is decorated and you are going to cook, you might as well COOK.

The second night, I was short of something and so I wanted to add in a quick dish to fill in a spot on the table. I pulled out Southern Living's Christmas cookbook and found the recipe for Chutney Spread. I had all the ingredients and it would only take a minute or two of chopping to put it together. I decorated it with candied cherries because it was Christmas time. It looked pretty all fluffy with coconut and candied cherries but no one was cutting into it. It is kind of like no one was sure exactly what it was....dessert, spread or whatever. But when the first person took a smear of it on a cracker, she declared it to be good. Then everyone started trying it and soon the Chutney spread was surrounded by about six people. I have similar stories from people I've given the recipe to.

The Chutney Spread lived up to its reputation again last night. It disappeared before dinner. I've been careful about giving out the recipe because it has kind of been my rabbit in the hat trick that I pull out from time to time. But I'm giving it out to you with the understanding that I have the San Miguel franchise on using this recipe in San Miguel!

Chutney Spread

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 9-ounce jar chutney - actually this is too much chutney. I use 1/2 to 3/4 jar.
½ cup sliced green onions
½ cup coarsely chopped dry roasted peanuts
½ cup flaked coconut
Garnish: candied cherry wedges

Spread cream cheese into a 7 ½ inch circle on a serving plate. Spread chutney over cream cheese; top with green onions and peanuts. Sprinkle coconut in center. (I just sprinkle the coconut all over the cream cheese, green onions, peanuts and chutney) Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 1 hour. Serve with crackers or toasted bread cut with Christmas cookie cutters. Yield: 3 ½ cups

Baby Boomer Economics in Mexico

We pick up a news magazine called Inside Mexico and the April issue has a Special Report on NAFTA. Included in this report was some surprising information....that because of NAFTA Mexico is now more attractive to retirees and other expats because they can find all the comforts of living in the USA plus reasonably priced housing, great climate and scenery. The article quotes several studies that estimate that approximately one million baby boomer expats are living or wintering in Mexico. And since the US Census Bureau estimates that even more baby boomers are reaching retirement age, this one million figure could continue to grow until at least 2025.

Now all of that doesn't surprise me too much, but then the article quotes Walter Russell Mead, a Senior Fellow at the Washington, D.C. based Council on Foreign Relations that each boomer household contributes on average, about $55,000 USD annually to Mexico's local economy. WOW!

Even if you think that $55,000 is too much, what about $45,000.....and that multiplied by one million baby boomers households, $45 billion USD. Or if you want to cut the $45 billion in half because you assume that there are two people in each household then you are still talking about $22.5 billion pumped into the Mexican economy annually.

Either way it is still a lot of dollars especially when you compare it to the $43 billion USD per year brought in by petroleum exports which is currently ranked as Mexico's top revenue source, followed by maquiladora exports and then by remittances, the money sent back to Mexico by the Mexicans in the USA. In 2006 the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank estimated that the Mexican workers sent a record $23.1 billion back home to Mexico.

I had not really thought about us expats being such a significant source of revenue for Mexico although recently a kind of satisfaction survey by the Mexican Government has been circulating among the expats. Maybe the numbers are right. The article in Inside Mexico about NAFTA and the Baby Boomers is a pretty interesting take on NAFTA. Here is a link so you can download the PDF and read it for yourself.

Assurance

I had someone write a comment on one of my entries that she was coming to San Miguel for an extended stay but was worried because of what she had read about crime along the border. Maybe she had also read the most recent US Government warning about traveling in Mexico. She wanted me to ease her mind about coming.

I really don't know what more to say. I write in the blog several times a week....usually about living here but sometimes about photography. I've written about the San Miguel Rapist. I've written about rock fights between young men and the police. I've written about ATM scams. But I've also written about going out to eat at night, about walking around the city, about friends, about an ordinary life except my ordinary life is in Mexico instead of in the USA.

San Miguel de Allende is a town. There is crime. But I've lived in Houston and there is crime. All I can say is read my blog, read Barbara's, Carol's and John's blogs. This is what our lives in San Miguel are like. I can't assure anyone that nothing will happen to them in San Miguel or even in Houston. Deciding to live in a foreign country is about being open for adventure. For me the opportunity for adventure would outweigh any concerns about crime. Of course, you are not going to find me out at midnight in a bar in Nuevo Laredo.

Squares and Rectangles

I made this image of the Carneceria down the street from us yesterday while I was out photographing Tiendas. I was really more interested in the inside of the Carneceria but the owner told me that he had just spent a lot of money having the carved dark cantera marco (frame) put around the entry of his shop and he wanted me to be sure to photograph it. So I backed up enough to get it all in the frame. It wasn't until I had processed and printed the image that I realized how strange the image felt. It feels like this space is a flat surface, like there is not any receding space. And the image is constructed of framed squares and rectangles. I don't think this is a keeper yet I keep going back to look at it and try to figure out exactly what is happening visually.


This is another image I made about two years ago with the Lensbaby lens. It does something similar in that it breaks up the image into geometric spaces but it doesn't feel like a flat surface. There is a feeling of receding space.

Stephen Shore in his book The Nature of Photographs writes:

When three-dimensional space is projected monocularly on to a plane, relationships are created that did not exist before the picture was taken. Things in the back of the picture are brought into juxtaposition with things in the front.

....a photographic image is two-dimensional. Because of this flatness, the depth of depictive space always bears a relationship to the picture plane. The picture plane is a field upon which the lens's image is projected. A photographic image can rest on this picture plane and, at the same time, contain an illusion of deep space.

The Carneceria doesn't have receding space and this emphasizes the geometric aspects of the image. When something strikes me as visually "different" I try to analyse what is happening within the frame. Maybe I need to be more aware of using this visual language in a knowingful way.

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This house is just down the street from us. They have a blue tarp, an orange tree, icicle lights and shrubs growing outside the door.

Views and Comments

I post images on Flickr and sometimes I am surprised at the images that get the most views or comments. Take the two images of these boys. The first one has had twice as many people view it as the second image. Why? The first boy is smiling and it is a nice little portrait. But the second boy has body language and personality. When I look at him I want to know more about him.
In the last week I posted these two images made one afternoon of the Casquero Chapel. Flickrettes are looking at and commenting on the first one. It is the more formal of the two and I agree that the lines leading into it are interesting but the second one has this strange, kind of off kelter look. Things aren't squared up and what in the world is that "clown" doing in front of the chapel. And he has a interesting shadow.

If I really think about what I put on Flickr (or photograph), I might be able to guess which images they would like, but I don't want to do that. I would lose my own point of view.

Francisco Onate - Mexican Printmaker

"Oaxaquenas" by Francisco Onate

This is my newest art purchase, a handtinted woodcut print by the Mexican Painter and Printmaker, Francisco Onate. Onate's work has been shown and is in collections all over Mexico, in the United States and in Russia.

When I saw the work at Zocalo Folk Art Gallery in Patzcuaro, I knew nothing about Onate but I knew I wanted some of his work. His work is contemporary but at the same time it celebrates the heritage of Mexico. He spoke at the opening of the Zocalo show and although my understanding of what he said was limited, I understood the charm and warmth in the work came from his love of the Mexican people and traditions.

I've tried to find a website for him but all I've found are some gallery websites that have shown his work. I wish you could have the thrill that I did in going through some 60 pieces. It was very hard to pick one....so I ended up with three.

Surprise Meeting

You never know who you are going to meet when you go out on my street. Tonight I took the Holga camera and tripod out to see how some long exposures would turn out. Just as I set up a shot across the street, two men came out of a building that took about two years to build across from us. It is a small apartment building with a 2 bedroom apartment on the second and third floors, a one bedroom on the first floor and also a storefront on the first floor. I had never been in it but we were pleased with the finishings and metal they had used on the outside.

One of the men, the older one, spoke some English and wanted to know about the camera. The younger man, who spoke perfect English, told me that his father collected old cameras. So I tried to explain about the Holga camera. I took it off the tripod and gave it to him. You could see the surprise on his face at the light weight of the camera. He looked through the view finder and tried to focus but you can't focus through the viewfinder with a Holga....you just turn the lens and guess. I think the Father was mystified at the sorry features of the Holga. There was no way I could explain that sometimes it had magic.

They wanted me to see the downstairs apartment which still isn't rented. It was small but nicely done.

We talked. The men are from San Miguel but now live in the United States. The Father is going to retire next year and he plans to come back to San Miguel. The son has been in the United States for 20 years, since he was 17 years old. This is the first time he has returned to his hometown. He is on the Chicago Police force and he would like to buy a place here in San Miguel. I asked him what he thought was different about San Miguel and he immediately said that it was much bigger.

They were very nice and I enjoyed talking with them. But there were a million questions I would have liked to ask. How did they get across the border? How do they feel about the United States now? What has been difficult about the adjustment to living in the USA? Do they think it will be difficult to come back to live in SMA? And on and on.

This chance meeting really has my mind whirling with so many immigration issues on both sides of the border. I'm not sure I can sort them out but if I do, I'll blog about it. But tonight I might find it difficult to go to sleep as I think about their stories.

What Do You Collect?

I found an interesting article about collecting. People collect for all kinds of reasons and at all kinds of depths. Some people become experts in the fields of their collections to such an extent that they can offer consulting services to museums or donate their valuable collections to a museum. But just about all of us collect something(s).

I'm not a serious collector but sometimes after I've bought a few similar things then I realize that I've started a collection. The black and white spotted dogs that you see above have become a collection. I must have about 20 of them now. Years ago in Oaxaca I bought one spotted dog and then I saw another.....along with lots of other painted Oaxacan animals that I'd like to have bought so I decided that I would limit myself to only buying the carved wooden painted black and white spotted dogs from Oaxaca. Now anytime I see a store filled with the wondrous Oaxacan wooden animals, I can look at everyone one of them in my search for a black and white dog. The dogs are few and far between but my search is fun and when I do find one, I feel that I have really, really found a treasure.

I also collect photography. Now this passion could get pretty expensive but I've added to my collection through trades with other photographers, local photography auctions, some gallery purchases as well as directly purchasing from the photographer. The problem is that I'd like to have them all on my walls but the collection has reached the point where that just isn't possible, especially here in Mexico. Still when I open one of the boxes that hold the photographs, my heart just sings to see the images and to remember the circumstances around the acquisition. And an extension of collecting photography is collecting photography books. Everywhere we travel it seems I find another photography book rather than a souvenir. And of course my photography book list never grows shorter no matter how many I buy.

Over the years we collected Uriarte pottery and Gorky Gonzales pottery....collecting one or two pieces at a time was so much more fun than buying a set of dishes all at once. Every time we came to Mexico, we would go looking for another piece. It was the thrill of the hunt and getting one more plate that brought the satisfaction.

There are several other things that we have collected in this manner and I guess that although I deny that I'm a folk art collector, I think my house (as well as the storage facility in Houston) would tell you differently. But I'm not a collector in the sense that my friend Joe is a collector. His house is amazing with folk art from around the world on every surface and on every wall but when he buys something new, there is always a place for one more thing. My friend Barbara whose house is full of joyful color, collects Mexican folk art and every time she moves things around in her house, I think she has bought a new piece.

Rick and Deb Hall who own Zocalo Folk Art stores in San Miguel de Allende and Patzcuaro fall into the category of expert collectors. They have been collecting folk art for years....since Rick was a boy. Their knowledge is extensive and they are always on the search for a mask maker they heard about in a village or the paper mache artist whose work they saw somewhere. Deb writes the Zocalo de Mexican Folk Art blog that gives you the flavor of their travels into the folk art world of Mexico.

What about you? What do you collect?

Don't Go To Mega

I just returned from shopping at the San Juan de Dios Mercado. I went to my usual two ladies for my vegetables. They helped me find the best of what I needed. As I was paying for my purchases one of them said to me, "Come here for your vegetables. Don't go to Mega." Maybe because I haven't been there since I broke my ankle they thought I had abandoned the Mercado for the big Mega Super Market. I assured them that I lived nearby in Colonia San Antonio and I'd be back.

I'm concerned for the vendors in the San Juan de Dios Mercado. The Mercado seems to have been shrinking even before Mega opened their doors but when I was there today it was almost deserted. Of course, it could be because it is Tuesday and it is also the big Tiangus where lots of Mexicans shop every week. When Walmart de Mexico opens the Bodega Aurrera on the Libramiento near the bus station, will they survive?

Daniel Grant - You Saw Him Here First

Just about a year ago, I posted an interview with Daniel Grant. He is a photographer who shoots with a Holga. I heard about Daniel's work and went looking for his website. I liked what he was doing so we "talked."

I was so thrilled when I received my latest issue of Light Leaks Magazine and found that Daniel's work had been showcased. You really should go buy/order the magazine but at the very least take a peak at some more of Daniel's work.