Today Antigua, Guatemala is a city of 40,000 people but in its prime in 1773 there were 60,000 inhabitants, 30 churches, 18 convents and monasteries, 15 hermitages, 10 chapels, the University of San Carlos, five hospitals, an orphanage, fountains and parks, and municipal water and sewer systems. What happened? Earthquakes. First in 1717 but the residents rebuilt much of what was destroyed. But even more devastating earthquakes occurred in 1773 and the city was pretty much abandoned and the capital moved to Guatemala City.The remains of the 1773 earthquake are still in the city. We looked at what was left of many of the destroyed churches. Just amazing that these three foot thick pillars collapsed. We also saw arches with huge cracks in them and wondered if they might finally fall as we stood looking at them.
It is amazing to me that more than 200 years later that the frescos on the arches that have been exposed to the weather still remain in tact.
3 comments:
It looks like you shoot quite a bit with the Holga, which is a good thing. For some reason I thought that you shot with a digital SLR as well. They make a holga lens that has either a cannon or nikon mount. Something you could consider.
I dig your blog, I have it linked to mine, that's how much I dig it. Keep writing and shooting,
Ed
scorpionsandwich.blogspot.com
Ed, I do shoot a lot with the holga and I do have the digital holga lens. In fact I shot with it today. And I do shoot with an SLR as well. Thanks for linking to mine and for reading. How in the world did you find my blog?
I found it when I was looking up Holga images and saw that you had a plethora of them. I also like that you write about Mexico and culture (being a Mexican myself I like your perspective.)
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