Tiago Genoveze Photography

Discolored, warped, and out of focus

2012-01-30T18:14:00.000-05:00


Sadiadogs

Four pictures that I took over two years ago, so why post them now? The answer is simple. In my last post, I mentioned that I had started to shoot again, "(albeit with cheap point and shoot film cameras)," as well as expired rolls of film, - but I hadn't mentioned that detail yet. So, before exposing some of the pictures I've been taking recently, I figured I could use these older snapshots as a sort of introduction into the posts I intend on publishing in the coming weeks.

About four months ago, just a few days after I got back from Nicaragua, I came upon an undeveloped roll of film in one of my drawers. As so often happens in these cases, I remembered more or less when I had used the roll but I had forgotten virtually everything I had photographed on it. I knew I had used a cheap point and shoot camera that I had bought at a garage sale in upstate New York for $1, but, given that I had never used the camera before - and that the roll of film had probably expired, - I truly had no idea what to expect when I sent the film to get developed. After several years of just shooting digital, I had forgotten about the giddy eagerness of having a roll of film that I shot processed and printed. Silly, yes, I know...but that's all right.

At first, it didn't even matter what came out in the pictures - especially since they were nothing more than forgotten experiments made for no one else but me. The uncertainty and expectation of waiting for the pictures was already enough to make me want to start shooting film again. And then, when I actually had the prints in my hand, I realized (not immediately, of course) that the pictures themselves did matter, but only because they didn't look at all like the stuff I shoot on my 5D. I was initially drawn to the aesthetic of the camera's flawed optics as well as the expired film's unpredictable effects. However, the longer I looked at the discolored images, the more I realized that what made them so different (to me) was not the warped and unfocused effects, it was because the switch in equipment obligated me to see differently.

Don't worry, I know that there's nothing unique or original about shooting with cheap/toy cameras or using expired film. Quite the opposite, in fact, it's quite popular. I also know that there's nothing revolutionary about these images and I don't intend on shooting with cheap cameras for the rest of my life. I just wanted to share where I'm at right now in terms of photography. I'm shooting for myself and I'm trying out a different voice (if not language). And if it doesn't please you, that's just fine, because it's doing me plenty of good.

mom/pɐp

Photography and the Hydra

2011-11-24T19:23:00.002-05:00


Father and Mother

Grandma and Grandpa

We all eventually need a break from, well, everything (or maybe that's just me). Unfortunately, we don't often get to enjoy such luxuries. I suppose that's a good thing about having a blog. When you get tired, feel uninspired, have other parts of your life interrupt your posts, there's always a simple solution: just stop posting. Whether it's a momentary pause or a permanent one doesn't really matter... Still, I've been meaning to get back to blogging for a while now, but what can you publish on a photo blog when you've virtually stopped making pictures? When I moved to Managua early in the year to organize the Miradas de Solentiname exhibitions, I stopped shooting. Planning the exhibits was taking up most of my time and though at first it hurt (quite literally, quite physically) not to be making pictures, I slowly began to realize that shooting the kind of pictures I wanted to shoot in Managua was something that required a lot of time and effort. Not only was I dedicating myself fully to Miradas, I had also been shooting straight for the past year and two months and teaching photo workshops five to six (sometimes even seven) days a week, looking over thousands of my workshop participants' pictures per month. In short, photography was consuming my life.

Though I stopped shooting, I was still dedicating myself to photography. I just wasn't behind the camera any more. I was sitting behind my laptop on a cluttered desk, a few feet away from my bed (a workout mattress on the floor), in a friend's apartment that was both home and office for several months. I spent most of my days indoors, especially during the beginning when I was writing project outlines, selecting photographs as well as emailing and cold calling anyone and everyone in Managua who might take an interest in the project. Everything was new, or rather, everything was a learning experience. I had never planned an exhibit before and just kind of jumped into it without giving it too much thought. I was also a nobody on a mission in no man's land. As I told some friends the other day, "My naivety saved me. My naivety was the only reason I was able organize all of the events. If I would have known just how complicated everything would be, I might have just given up." Come to think of it, perhaps my naivety wasn't the only thing I had going for me. In fact, compared to the incredible stories captured with such complexity and diversity by Solentiname's young photographers, my innocence was quite insignificant. I was incredibly proud of the photographs my "students" had taken and, more importantly, believed in their importance.That's why everything worked out.

One might argue that I'm just making excuses for not having taken pictures, that if you're passionate enough about photography you'll always make time to pick up a camera. Sure, I suppose that's true for anyone who believes that photography is the be-all and end-all, but that's not the case with me. I'm passionate about photography just as I'm passionate about a lot of other things, such as reading, writing, thinking, learning, walking, and spending time with my partner, family and friends. So, though I'm finally starting to shoot again (albeit with cheap point and shoot film cameras), I've been doing plenty of other things.

Which brings me to this post's pictures. Obviously, none of them were taken by me. They were all pictures of my relatives that I found buried deep inside of old shoe boxes, buried deep inside of overcrowded closets. For me, the force of these utilitarian portraits came in the betrayal of their initial purposes, in their metamorphosis into personal pictures, pictures charged with nostalgia, saudade, emotion, and imaginary memories. Funny how even static images change over time, isn't it? Anyways, it seemed inconsiderate to leave these pictures lost and forgotten where they had been for so long, so I started making them into simple, yet emotionally utilitarian objects: bookmarks. At least in this way they're closer to me. And I'm closer to them. And photography is more than just picking up a camera, it's like the Hydra - it's a many-headed beast.

Brother

Details of a new environment

2011-04-16T14:32:00.000-04:00

I've been in Managua for two and a half weeks organizing a traveling exhibit and a book of my photography students' best work. I'm staying at a friend's house and spend most of my time indoors working on my laptop, which is a subtle way of saying that my habits have changed completely from what I'm used to in Solentiname.

After waiting four months to have my primary camera repaired in the US (Mack Camera & Video Service to blame for incompetent service at a snail's pace), I finally got it back two days ago and immediately started taking pictures of the apartment.

New Website, New Stories, New Photos

2011-04-01T14:01:00.000-04:00

Jones: Growing Old and Suffering Accidents - Images by Tiago Genoveze

Jones: Growing Old and Suffering Accidents - the story displayed above - is just one of several new galleries featured on my new website (www.tiagogenoveze.com). Besides displaying original content, my new website also allows visitors to buy prints of their favorite pictures. All you have to do is click the BUY link above any image, select the quantity and size of the prints, enter your shipping/billing information, and you should be receiving your prints within a few days.

I encourage you to please send me any feedback you might have about the new site. Either shoot me an email at tiago.genoveze@gmail.com or leave a comment below. Also let me know if you come across any typos or misspellings.

Thank you,
Tiago L. M. Genoveze

Solentiname today, moving towards tomorrow

2011-03-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

Globalization. Tiger bedspread Made in China? Expensive wardrobe, certainly not made in Solentiname. Drywall instead of local wood for walls.

Ask any of Solentiname's older generations about what Solentiname was like in the past and they'll all tell you that nobody had a motor for their boat and how trips to San Carlos were made in small, wooden row boats. They'll tell you how poor everyone was and how disconnected they were from mainland Nicaragua and the rest of the world. More importantly, they'll explain how everyone was much more united. That's all changed, or rather, that's all changing very drastically. Most families today have significantly more money than they used to several years ago. As a result, Solentinameños in general have become greater consumers and more capitalistic.

But what are the consequences? I've asked this question to several locals and most of them immediately say that the consequences are positive. They tell me that Solentiname is much more developed and that people today enjoy better standards of living. That's when I ask them if they believe that this "development" has also brought more conflict and inequality into their society. Yes, is the resounding answer. While some people have been able to buy very high horsepower motors for their boats, expensive solar panels, televisions, sound systems, as well as imported clothes and jewelry, many people have not. Thus, people become more envious, more selfish, and less united.

But is this just a temporary stage as people adapt to capitalism and consumerism or will it last? Do the pros outweigh the cons? Will all of these changes completely transform Solentiname's culture?

Cell phones are everywhere. Pay attention to the jewelry and modern clothing.

Gasoline fueled pumps. Hundreds of feet of tubing. Better irrigation. More crops. More income.

New boat to the left. Old boat to the right.

Television every night. Increased exposure to news, globalization, marketing, etc. Families used to sit in the dark and speak to one another. Now they eat and watch television. Huge cultural impact.

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If you liked this post you might also like this one: The Veneration of Material Things.

Working towards preserving "the moment"

2011-03-05T20:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, anyone can take a photograph. All you have to do is push a button, right? Well, not really. Thought, effort, creativity, and luck are only a few of the factors that go into making a "great" picture. Now I'm not saying the picture above is great, but I'm going to use it to illustrate the point that thought, effort, etc. go into making every memorable picture.

I took this photo about a week ago when I went to La Cigueña island, a small island that I had spent a total of thirty minutes on over the past year. I met most of the island's inhabitants for the first time on this visit. I know it's not every photographer's style to spend more time talking with their subjects than photographing them, but it is something I do - especially when I don't know my subjects very well. So, I spent most of my day meeting new folks and starting conversations. Of course, I took a few photos here and there, but I wasn't walking around snapping pictures left and right. I didn't have much of a choice about my conservative shooting in the first place since mostly everyone that was on the island was just relaxing; everyone else was out fishing. Over the last year I've come to learn that it's very hard to take pictures of people when they are just sitting about with nothing to do. What usually happens under these circumstances is that as soon as I raise my camera, the typical camera shy Solentinameño either turns away or adopts a completely unnatural expression.

Anyways, I had never met either of the men pictured above. Though I was able to speak with Dima (right) for a few minutes earlier in the day, I could tell that he still felt very apprehensive about the random white guy with the camera who decided to show up out of the blue (me). (Keep in mind that foreigners don't ever visit La Cigueña.) I hadn't, however, met or spoken with the other fellow until a few minutes before I took this picture and he also seemed skeptical about my presence. Thus, breaking the ice was essential. This is when I got lucky. A little boy I had taken a picture of earlier convinced the two hesitant men to join him for a picture, so, I snapped a few generic shots of the three of them awkwardly and rigidly standing about. Then, I asked them to go down to the water's edge so that I could take a picture of them by the boats. I took some more group portraits and showed them the pictures on my camera's LCD screen. They laughed and appreciated the pictures for a moment. The little boy left us to go play and I sat on a rock to chat with my new acquaintances, which is when the two guys reclined into natural, relaxed postures. That's when I realized that an interesting image was materializing in front of me. But how could I go about taking the picture without ruining the moment? I evaluated the situation. In order for me to get the angle I wanted I would have to get up and hop across a few large, partially submerged stones. So, as I spoke, I slowly stood up and began to make my way towards the furthest stone. I had to keep conversation flowing and act as though I was just aimlessly wandering about because I knew that I had to keep the men distracted from the fact that I was preparing to take their picture. Well, I managed to snap three quick frames. The picture above was the first frame. By the third frame, Dima had already shifted into an unnatural position and I no longer had a compelling image.

I've included a closer crop below of the original picture to provide a better view of the expressions and body language I was trying to preserve.

Campesino

2011-02-28T14:40:00.000-05:00

After collecting bean stalks and letting them dry under the sun, Solentiname's campesinos beat the dried stalks with sticks to separate the edible seeds from the useless pods. This can only be done during the hottest hours of the day under very intense heat.

Much like the previous photograph, the man in this picture is pounding rice to separate it from its husk. (I've tried it - it's extremely tiring).

When you don't have a rifle, you hunt iguanas with slingshots.

Fishing on lake Cocibolca is just a part of this boy's daily routine.

Solentiname's artisans produce pretty, brightly-colored balsa wood sculptures (as you can see in this post). In order for them to make their crafts, however, the artisans must cut and carry the wood back to their homes. Although balsa wood is an incredibly lightweight material, carrying a log of this size for half an hour is not necessarily easy.

Subtleties around the pitch

2011-02-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

Summer Sundays in Solentiname are all about baseball. Since I don't care much for the sport, or sport photography in general, I've been trying to capture the life around the pitch in a less literal manner than I have in the past (check one of my other posts about baseball to see what I mean). Here are some of the shots I've come up with.

A group portrait and a few words

2011-02-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

A few days ago as I made my way to an outlying sector on Mancarrón, the island I live in in Solentiname, I came upon the characters photographed above talking and sharing stories with one another at Eduardo Arana's house (left). At first, only the men were present as Maria (second from left) was bathing in the lake. I didn't contribute much conversation as I mostly sat and listened to the three men talk about growing old and dying.

Neither Eduardo nor Vicente Gonsalez (right) know exactly how old they are but they estimate they are somewhere between 70 and 80 years old. Pedro Paulo Perez (second from right) was hesitant about revealing his age. When he finally said that he is 45 years old everyone scoffed at him and said that he was lying and that he has to be in his 60s. Anyways, the three friends seemed fixed on the idea that they are all going to die very soon, but the thought didn't seem to scare them as they laughed and joked about different sorts of death. The men also exchanged stories about how different the world is now (Eduardo said that he heard on the radio that there are machines that bathe you, pick out your clothes, and dress you - his friends were amazed) and how the youth are all crazy as the music they listen to is terrible and their lifestyle is abominable.

Vida de perro (A dog's life)

2011-02-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Some dogs here in Solentiname lead truly miserable lives. Unlike first-world-country-dogs, these dogs are not pampered or adored. In most cases, dogs are kept here for purely practical purposes. They guard the house and some of them are competent at tracking armadillos and other bushmeat (see this post). From what I've observed, dogs serve another purpose as well, albeit a slightly unsettling therapeutic purpose. They seem to be treated as vents for people's frustrations as some families are constantly screaming at, throwing sticks or stones, and whipping their dogs for simply being dogs (i.e. poking their noses into the kitchen, sitting on the porch, etc.) Seeing someone pet or play with a dog is a truly rare sight in these islands.

"Housewives"

2011-01-30T20:26:00.001-05:00

Modern western cultures tend to value success in the workplace so much, that in doing so, we consequently deflate the importance of the traditional woman's responsibilities of raising children and taking care of the home. Think about the word housewife, for example. Do we associate this word with success in today's vocabulary? Would we value a housewife to be equally as successful as an entrepreneur, for example, without knowing any details of their situations? I don't think we would, but perhaps we should. I once heard a woman say, "I'm just a housewife," when asked what she did. The response would have been perfect if only the woman had spoken with pride and, of course, if she hadn't uttered the word just before houswife.

Solentiname's women are strong and their strength is reflected in their eyes. They are also mostly housewives. Though many women help plant and harvest crops throughout the year, their tasks during the average day mostly consist of cooking, cleaning, washing, raising children, and watching over the house. As you will see in one of the following pictures, girls are also introduced into this lifestyle at an early age. I present the following pictures with respect and admiration.

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I dedicate this post to my mother who was a housewife for several years. Mãe, obrigado pelo seu inexaurível apoio, carinho e amor. Tenho orgulho em dizer que você é a minha mãe. Seja mais você!

The veneration of material things

2011-01-24T11:04:00.002-05:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into a particular house here in Solentiname and saw the above photographed scene. I literally stopped dead in my tracks and gaped in disbelief. I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry at the disparity of images and the subsequent implications I was suddenly faced with. The family that lives in this particular house is very humble. They don't have any electricity or plumbing and the floor in their home is made of hard-packed dirt. Does this family really venerate these material goods as much as the baby Jesus or is this scene altogether innocent?

Below are some banal images that also hint at an increasing consumer culture within Solentiname as it adapts to the modern world.

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Visit my students' photo blog, Miradas de Solentiname, and check out the most recent post about how one of my young students started a photographic trend that literally "revolutionized" the photo community here.

Catharsis

2011-01-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

As a photographer I have become increasingly critical of my work. In the past month my severe self-criticism has made it particularly difficult for me to pick up my camera. I finally worked my way past this disappointing period of stagnation last night when I forced myself to grab my camera, tripod, and shutter release cord and go for a walk. The time flew past as I made self-portraits and landscapes under the radiant full moon. I woke up today feeling light and confident. Catharsis.

I've always enjoyed making and looking at self-portraits. Here is an old post featuring a much lighter self-portrait I made over a year ago. If you admire self-portraits you might enjoy some of Francesca Woodman and Miru Kim's work.

A quiet moment, at dusk

2011-01-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

Solentiname: Land, Lake, and Sky

2011-01-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

Bergman

2010-12-25T19:15:00.000-05:00

He's an ambiguous character. People that know Bergman say he's a thief, a liar, and potentially crazy. It's hard to know what to believe - in fact, it may just be impossible. People in small communities like Solentiname's little communities tend to gossip a lot and talk about one another ceaselessly. I certainly don't know him well enough to pass judgment, but I'm certainly intrigued by him.

The first few times I saw him he walked right past me - speaking to himself, cursing - without acknowledging my presence. When I finally had the opportunity to speak to him he kept laughing unexpectedly and was hesitant to make eye contact with me. The last time I saw him he seemed a bit more approachable. He spoke to me and asked me questions. His aunt kept interrupting him to tell me that he is "screwed up in the head." Bergman would nod, shake his head, and giggle all at once. He asked me to take his portrait. When I showed it to him he said he looked horrible. Nonetheless, he asked me to print him a copy.

With babies in their arms...

2010-12-18T13:08:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it seems as if there's nearly a baby in every household here. Though I know that's far from true, the amount of newborns, infants, and children in Solentiname is still quite impressive. The illusion that there are babies everywhere is easy to understand once you've met several people who have more than seven brothers and sisters and especially when you meet someone with 15 siblings. Still, the current seems to be changing as several new couples are limiting themselves to having one, two, or three children. Time will tell.

A religious ceremony where three babies were introduced into the Adventist church by three pastors.

Solentiname Party Scenes*

2010-12-10T11:32:00.000-05:00

I'd wanted to shoot a party in Solentiname ever since I got here, but, since I'm not much of the party-going type (I barely drink and I don't dance), I was a little intimidated by the prospect. I also felt as though shooting in a party environment would be too intrusive and make my subjects uncomfortable. I'm happy to say that I finally shed my apprehensions and got around to shoot a party this past weekend.

As in most parties here, there are three crowds: 1) the dancing crowd, 2) the timid crowd, and 3) the drinking crowd. The first move about on the dance floor enclosed by the chain-link fence, the second wander about looking lost or confused, and the third linger (or stumble) around and eventually end up looking lost and confused as well. I ended up focusing more on life outside the dance floor, though, as you'll notice, I managed to take some pictures of all three crowds. I think you'll be able to distinguish who belongs to what crowd.

*Dedicated to Ying Quan Tan, a great friend and photographer who inspired me to make these pictures with his own set of party pictures.

Kitchen Scene at Night

2010-11-22T11:10:00.000-05:00

Pictures people keep

2010-11-17T10:25:00.000-05:00

I'm always curious about the pictures my students in Solentiname take. It's interesting to see the pictures they like as opposed to the pictures I like: they'll usually prefer the snapshots of family, friends, animals, and flowers whereas I'll usually point out the less literal photos as my favorites. I'm also interested in the few pictures people here have and cherish in their homes, especially since I reward my students with prints of their "best" work. Sometimes I wonder what pictures my students will cherish ten years down the line and what their children and grandchildren will make of them. Anyways, here are some of the pictures and stories people have shown and told me.

Here are several pictures that the family that lives on La Lagartera island showed me several months ago. Three of the pictures (top left, bottom left, and top right) were taken at the funeral of a pair of twins that died shortly after being born. Taking pictures at funerals, especially of the deceased, is not only accepted here, it is desired.

A polaroid of a young family member with a young Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's current president.

Daniel Ortega shows up again in a different household (bottom left) in a poster. Also, portraits like the one hanging above the crucifix are very common throughout the islands. People will take old pictures of their deceased relatives to shops that drastically enlarge the images and photoshop them against backgrounds of foreign landscapes.

There's a really interesting story behind these two pictures. The woman in the picture below has lived her whole life in Solentiname. The woman in the picture above is German and, according to what I was told, visited the archipelago a few times in the '80s and/or '90s where she befriended the woman pictured below. All I heard was that the German would spend her day learning how to cultivate and painting alongside local primitivist painters. The woman below showed me an album full of postcards her German friend sent her from several European cities over the years. Suddenly, I think it was in the mid '90s, she stopped receiving postcards. She never heard from her friend again.

Field Burning

2010-11-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I photographed (and helped) two brothers set their field on fire. Field burning is an easy way of getting rid of weeds as well as stalks from the last harvest, but, more importantly, it makes it easier for the brothers to plant beans.

It was a clear day, more hot than usual. The flames only made the heat more stifling. There was a certain beauty in observing the lifeless terrain of black, smoldering earth and listening to the birds casually singing over the sputtering flames.

Solentiname's artisans and their craft

2010-11-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

Solentiname is home to hundreds of artists whose work consists mostly of brightly-colored balsa wood sculptures and primitivist paintings. While the paintings are usually made by a single person, the sculptures are often crafted by several people of the same family. For example, perhaps the male head of the household and a son or two will be in charge of cutting down the balsa wood tree, lugging it to their home, sawing the log into smaller blocks, and shaping the smaller blocks into birds, turtles, or fish. Then, they might hand the rough shapes to their sisters or younger brothers to be sanded down into smooth, rounded figures, dried, and then painted.

The artisans with the best contacts will sometimes get large orders from Masaya (Nicaragua's arts and crafts capital) or even other countries. Other families will continually produce crafts and either sell them to the few tourists that visit the islands or place them for sale in the local tourist centers. Here is a look at the artisans and their craft.

A House Dismantled

2010-11-02T11:47:00.000-04:00

This weekend, doña Norma (pictured below), an elderly woman who spent most of her life in Solentiname, left the archipelago and moved to the mainland. Her husband died over a month ago and, she said, she simply wouldn't be able to live here by herself. "Who will plant our rice and beans? Who will cut and carry wood? I can't do those things by myself," she told me.

Friends, family, and neighbors joined Norma this past Saturday to help her dismantle her home and pack her belongings on the two boats that would take her to the mainland. The wooden walls and the zinc roof that made up her old home were taken down and will probably be used to build her new home. While many of Norma's belongings were salvaged, a great deal of her furniture and personal items were left scattered about. After helping Norma pack her goods away, some of her neighbors' children walked about looking for things they could take for themselves.

School Photos

2010-10-31T13:02:00.001-04:00

Along with teaching reading and photography classes throughout Solentiname I am also the archipelago's official photographer. In my time here I've been asked to take pictures of newborns and of old, damaged photographs as well as at funerals and at special events. I'm also in charge of taking school photographs in all of the islands' nine primary schools and one and only high school. Here's a look at some of the preparation and the general atmosphere during my session at one of San Fernando's primary schools last Thursday.

Revisiting the Joneses

2010-10-29T11:01:00.000-04:00

So, I've been back in Nicaragua for over a week already and I have yet to post pictures I took while I was in the U.S. The truth, however, is that I barely took any photos while I was there. I suppose I needed a little break from photography, after all, constantly looking at my photo students' work as well as my own for the past nine months has been quite draining. My vacation has done me well and I'm ready to re-immerse myself in photography.

While I was in the states, I took a little trip to upstate New York to visit some friends. Those of you who have kept up with my blog know that I lived in upstate NY for two months last year to work on a documentary project on Lynn and David Jones. The Joneses (pictured below) are two inspiring people with very positive outlooks on life despite all they have lived through. I am incredibly fortunate to have their friendship and hope to document them over the years so that I might share their story as well as all the lessons they have learned along the way.

My first photo book: People Watching

2010-10-18T23:54:00.000-04:00

Taking pictures of strangers going about their daily lives was, in a way, what really got me (and keeps me) hooked to photography. I started experimenting with this sort of street photography immediately after I got my first digital SLR and moved to London for a semester. At the time I wasn't all that conscious why 80% of my pictures were of complete strangers. I suppose I've only come to realize rather recently that I have a profound interest in people that has been evident in my photography long before I was ever aware of it.

I created this book through Blurb, a publishing service that allowed me to design and self-publish a photo book to give my brother and his wife as their wedding gift. You can browse the book for free or buy it for $30.95 right here - all you have to do is click the shopping cart below. So, flip through it, share it with friends that might be interested, and don't hesitate to leave a comment. Thanks!

People Watching by Tiago L. M. Genoveze | Make Your Own Book

Culture shock

2010-10-06T17:38:00.000-04:00

So I left Solentiname about two weeks ago to go to Managua for some meetings regarding Miradas de Solentiname (my photography project involving the archipelago's talented youth) and then to Boston and New York City for my brother's wedding. I've hardly had time to shoot since I started traveling but hopefully I will find some time soon. That's my update for now...

Solentiname Primary School Independence Day Parade

2010-09-14T16:36:00.000-04:00

189 years ago to the day, Central America - with the exception of Panama and Belize - gained its independence from Spain. To commemorate this national holiday, all the primary school students of Solentiname, Nicaragua came together yesterday morning in Mancarrón (Solentiname's largest and most populated island) accompanied by a marching band from the city of San Carlos. Carrying Nicaraguan flags and wearing impeccable uniforms, the students marched down one of Mancarrón's only paved footpaths until they reached the village's soccer field. Underneath the hot, Central American sun, some of the students sang and danced in front of their proud parents and relatives.

Hands and Feet

2010-09-10T11:30:00.000-04:00

Our hands and feet communicate a great deal about the way we live. This holds especially true in a rural community like Solentiname, where most work is done manually - where people's callused, scarred, and mosquito-bitten extremities reveal rugged lifestyles.

An old man sharpens his machete.

A young boy stands barefoot next to a gallego - a lizard famous for its uncanny ability to run over water.

An adolescent's hands are stained pink from contact with a pesticide used to keep critters away from recently planted rice crops.

A young girl stands in the mud. On the day that I took this picture, this girl made her 15 minute walk to photography class barefoot despite the mud-covered and rocky footpath that extends from her home to the school.

The hands of a primitivist painter at work.

This young boy was only wearing one shoe because, earlier that day, a heavy bench had fallen onto the big toe on his left foot. He decided it would be better to walk with his injured foot uncovered.

The result of an incident with a machete.

Three delicate feet, sunlight, and shadow.

An old woman's hands.

Hunting for Bushmeat

2010-08-29T12:31:00.001-04:00

At first glance, the jungle is impenetrable. Bush, thorns, trees, and vines everywhere. The two dogs rush into the bush and, less than a minute later, declare victory with a few barks. Cusuco - armadillo. Two of the six hunters run off in the direction of the dogs hacking at everything with their machetes and ducking under the low-hanging vegetation. Silence. Not a sound except for the incessant buzz of the insects. Suddenly, the two hunters laugh from a distance and celebrate with a few shouts. The other four hunters smile and scatter into the bush to see what else they catch.

Four and a half hours later the hunters and their dogs get back in their boat and head home with their catch - seven armadillos and two iguanas - laying limp and lifeless at their feet. Everyone is dirty, covered in mud, and drenched in sweat. The dogs did most of the really hard work: sniffing the underground dwelling critters and chasing them out of and occasionally back into their holes. The men, however, did their fair share of labor cutting, chasing, digging, and wrestling the surprisingly speedy armadillos out of their dens as well as scanning the canopy for iguanas and shooting at them with the group's only .22 caliber rifle.

A Solentiname Kitchen Scene

2010-08-25T12:33:00.000-04:00

Group Portraits

2010-08-23T14:13:00.001-04:00

So maybe all of these aren't necessarily "group portraits" since some photos only have two subjects, but the idea is that there are more than one person in each photos. Rather than writing a lengthier introductory paragraph, I'll just share a few comments about how these portraits were taken for those of you who might be curious about whether I posed my subjects or not.

I was taking a few photos of a woman in her kitchen when suddenly a bunch of kids rode up to us on their bicycles. I had seen a few bikes in Solentiname before but never more than one at a time. An older gentleman that was sitting nearby told me I should take some pictures of the kids so, without arranging them at all, I crouched and snapped a few frames. I have to admit, this is a very uncommon scene in Solentiname, but it is a sign that the times here are changing.

For this photo I specifically asked my subjects to arrange themselves near the front door of their home. People here naturally tend to become very serious when you take their picture so the first frame I took of this portrait shows a straight faced mother next to her two unsmiling children. Then, I looked at them from behind my camera, cracked a joke, and quickly snapped a picture.

I was speaking to this man when this little boy approached us and leaned up against his grandfather. I asked if I could take a portrait of them together and received a slow nod for an answer. I found it very interesting that rather than looking at the camera, this gentleman raised his head and looked off into the distance.

These kids just happened to be sitting together.

Like the previous portrait, the mother and daughter in this photo were not posed at all.

I took this picture during my second week in Solentiname (just about seven months ago). I couldn't believe my eyes when this little boy ran up to me with a huge rat dangling from his fingertips. I hesitated for a brief moment and considered telling him to put it down immediately and wash his hands but I ended up snapping a few frames and then telling him and his little friends to go wash up.

These guys took a break from grinding corn and asked me to take their picture.

Looking Closely at Nature

2010-08-13T13:52:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I haven't given justice to Solentiname's natural beauty in the past six and a half months as I've focused most of my efforts in documenting the people here. So, along with the post about the Footpaths that I posted the other day, I hope this series of detail shots can contribute to your understanding of the overwhelming splendor of the fauna and flora this unique archipelago has to offer.

Tarantulas, or pica caballos as Nicaraguans call them, are everywhere here. Though they are huge (this one was the size of my hand) and look terribly menacing, they are not venomous and no one can remember the last time anyone was bitten by one. The locals here are completely used to sharing their space with these hairy spiders and, for the most part, do not fear them at all.

A two-inch grasshopper stretching it's legs after having shed it's old, black skin.

A line of ants making their way across the dry, cracked earth. Though they bite very hard, they are fantastic housekeepers. It's only happened to me once that I woke up in the morning and discovered that my room had been invaded by ants. Rather than trying to kill them, you'd be better off letting them work their way through your room and picking it clean of any dead spiders, moths, and crumbs.

I have no idea what you would call this creeping creature - a worm, a centipede, a millipede? Regardless, it is beautiful and quite large: about one inch thick and seven inches long.

Trash is a problem in Solentiname. While some of it gets sent to a dump in San Carlos, a lot of it never makes it off of the islands. I know this photograph is a very sad sight - especially after seeing the previous eight pictures - but it serves as a warning to illustrate an effect of man's disregard for his environment.

A Precious, Fleeting Moment in El Castillo

2010-08-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

Footpaths

2010-08-07T13:44:00.006-04:00

With the exception of two of Solentiname's most populated sectors, which have some paved pathways, all of the archipelago's homes, villages, schools, forests, and pastures are connected by dirt footpaths. I have yet to walk a trail that has not offered me breathtaking views and pleasant surprises. So, in an attempt to offer you something different from my usual posts, I hope you enjoy this virtual walking tour of Solentiname.

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***Check out Miradas de Solentiname to view ten stunning new pictures taken by one of my most talented photography students: Edwin Fernando.***

Solentiname Portraits, Part 3

2010-08-05T13:22:00.000-04:00

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 7: Passing Through in Public Transportation

2010-07-23T23:06:00.002-04:00

This is the final part to the Solentiname - Ometepe posts. I have to be honest, this trip gave me the much needed opportunity to shoot in a different environment. I hope you feel refreshed as well. Now, it's back to shooting in Solentiname. Please drop a comment or an email with any critiques you might have or stories you would be interested in seeing about Solentiname.

When I took this last picture I immediately thought about the second picture I posted on part one of this seven part series.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 6: Nighttime Walk in Altagracia

2010-07-22T18:09:00.002-04:00

Poorly lit streets cast in deep shadows. Simple homes emanating soap opera music and melodramatic dialogue. No crowds rushing anywhere, just the odd couple, family, or pedestrian slowly strolling by. Plenty of bicycles, several motorcycles, and few cars. Distant sounds of music and preaching coming from an evangelical congregation. Just a few observations from a nighttime walk through Ometepe's second largest city: Altagracia.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 5: Brief Encounter With a Man Who Forgot Himself

2010-07-21T13:59:00.002-04:00

He walked up to me, shirtless, scruffy, and disheveled, while I was waiting for a bus in Ramón, Isla Ometepe. He sat beside me and we spoke about the world cup. He said he wanted Brazil to win. Barely a minute later he began to tell me that he couldn't care less about the world cup. He removed two eggs form his pocket and showed them to me. Then he told me, in Spanish of course, "I don't know who I am." Looking into the distance with shrugged shoulders and outstretched hands, he repeated, "I don't know who I am." Now he was standing. Soon he would sit down again, except this time he would seat himself on the ground. He was facing the lake. "Nadar," he said, "nadar, nadar, nadar" (nadar means swim in Spanish). He said he swims a lot. In fact, according to him, he came to Ometepe swimming - naked. He loves nature. Suddenly, he told me that his father introduced him to a lot of vices. He didn't elaborate at all. Then, my bus arrived. Before I left for the bus I shook his hand and asked him his name. His response: Carlos.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 4: Ometepe Landscapes and Houses

2010-07-20T12:33:00.004-04:00

Isla Ometepe at sunset as seen from Solentiname. The island's two Volcanoes, Maderas (left) and Concepción (right), can be made out at the bottom right.

Ometepe is a truly unique place. Where else on the planet can you visit a volcanic island with an active as well as an extinct volcano in one of the world's largest lakes with several beautiful beaches and a rich, yet mysterious indigenous history?

Isla Ometepe's charm is difficult to put into words. Despite the island's enchanting natural beauty - evident at all times no matter where you go - the island's rustic houses also captured my eye. I'm not sure that I saw any two residences that looked exactly alike. Every house seemed to have it's own personality. I only wish I would have had the time and opportunity to see to what extent the houses exteriors reflected its inhabitants' personalities.

I know this post's main focus is Ometepe's landscapes and houses but I feel obliged to briefly mention its people. After all, the places we inhabit do influence our character. I have never felt so much energy and happiness transmitted by any population. Let me explain. No matter where you are, whether you are in town, on the beach, or walking along a deserted dirt road, people always (I'm not exaggerating) say hello and flash a friendly smile. People in Ometepe seem genuinely happy and eager to share their island with foreigners - unlike countless tourist destinations around the world. Visit when you can to judge for yourself. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photos.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 3: A Brief Stop at San Miguelito

2010-07-17T14:44:00.002-04:00

After enjoying a few hours in San Carlos and fulfilling my immediate desire to people watch, I boarded a ferry headed for Granada to take me to my final destination: Isla Ometepe. There are two stops along the ten hour ride to Ometepe. Here are a few photos I took during the ferry's brief stop at San Miguelito.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 2: People Watching in San Carlos

2010-07-11T19:22:00.003-04:00

San Carlos, my first stop en route to Ometepe, is a port city in Southern Nicaragua at the mouth of the Rio San Juan. It's only two hours away by boat from Solentiname, making it the nearest city to the archipelago, and it is less than an hour away from Costa Rica.

I don't know why but my first impression of San Carlos five and a half months ago was not very good. I've grown to like it though. Perhaps that's because, after several months of living in a sparsely populated, very rural environment, a visit to San Carlos has begun to feel like a big deal - a short trip to a big city. Okay, so San Carlos only has about 30,000 inhabitants and you can virtually walk around the city center in a couple of minutes but it has cars, buses, motorcycles, paved streets, squares, stores, a hospital, and, among other things, a big marketplace.

More importantly for me, however, San Carlos is a great place to people watch. In Solentiname people spend most of their time in their homes or working their fields, which means that most times I have to actively look for people to photograph. San Carlos on a busy day, however, is quite the opposite: crowded streets with people going about their daily lives, shopping, selling, working, chatting, and relaxing.

I never thought I would miss a city environment during my quiet, peaceful time in Solentiname but I was beginning to yearn for the rhythm of city life. I also felt like shooting in a different environment. So, here's the result:candid photos of people in San Carlos shot from the hip, with the exception of three images (the second and last portrait as well as the picture of the bus). If you like this style of photography, check out some old posts about hip shooting in São Paulo and Toronto.

Solentiname - Ometepe, Part 1: Leaving the Archipelago

2010-07-08T17:49:00.004-04:00

Isla El Limón, one of Solentiname's 36 islands, in the foreground and a Costa Rican volcano in the background as seen at dawn.

Two weeks ago I left on a little trip to Isla Ometepe, a figure-eight-shaped island with two volcanoes - one active and one extinct - located in Lake Nicaragua several miles northwest of Solentiname. The next few posts will be dedicated to sharing some pictures I took of the people I met and things I saw throughout my trip. This first post is composed of a few pictures I took on the boat from Solentiname to San Carlos at dawn on June 25.

***Check back soon to see some pictures I made shooting from the hip in San Carlos.***

Working With Light

2010-07-06T12:46:00.001-04:00

The sun's harsh light at noon will make you wince. The sparsely distributed light bulbs and candles will make you strain your eyes at night. Both occasions yield scenes with bright highlights and deep shadows. In the six months that I've been here in Solentiname I haven't used a flash once. With the hope of preserving the ambience and mood of the place I've chosen to only shoot using natural and available light, which has been a very difficult task at times.

Finding new ways to photograph in such a small environment is proving to be a challenge that I'm trying hard to combat. I'm starting to think that the work I'm producing here is all too literal, so, I'm trying to make more figurative images. I hope you enjoy this set of "less literal" photographs and, if you have a moment, let me know what you think about them.

"La Montañita"

2010-06-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

"La Montañita," also known as Colectivo, is a stretch of several kilometers located between Mancarrón's two largest sectors inhabited by roughly 30 to 60 people. Most homes are relatively close, separated by a five minute walk along "La Montañita's" dirt footpaths.

I'm finally getting to know this sector a bit better since I started with a weekly afternoon photo class two weeks ago. I took the picture above when I was walking along the trails telling the youth that a teacher and myself would be offering reading and photo classes every Tuesday. These two youngsters, one eight, one nine, were chapeando, the Nicaraguan word for mowing the lawn. Of course, most families here are too poor to afford lawnmowers, so they cut their grass with machetes - if you look carefully, you can see that both children are holding short machetes.

I hope this small series on "La Montañita" conveys a sense of the place and the people.

Solentiname Portraits, Part 2

2010-06-11T18:38:00.001-04:00

A boy high up in a tree collecting hocotes, a small fruit that is very common in Solentiname.

A resident of isla San Fernando. He said he has a Brazilian friend that occasionally comes to Solentiname and brings him good knives. His friend, he said, has not returned in a long time.

A man from Mancarroncito sitting on his porch.

A young girl from Sector Ortega. Her old primary school teacher quit unexpectedly a few months back and this girl as well as all of her peers had to wait over a month without going to school before a new teacher was found.

Details of...

2010-06-08T23:45:00.001-04:00

A plank of wood stranded on a stony Mancarroncito shore that used to be part of a boat. There are no cars, much less roads, in Solentiname - boats offer the archipelago's sole mode of transportation.

Rice, still inside the husk. Most people consume rice three times a day here. Thankfully, many people in Solentiname have small plots of land they use to cultivate rice, beans, and corn, which they use for their own consumption. This, as well as fishing, gathering fruits from local trees, and hunting, allows families to survive on full stomachs with very little income.

A common sight in Solentiname's dry, summer months. With very little rainfall to keep grass green, locals often clear large plots of land by setting fire to the dry grass and weeds.

I have ceased being surprised by abandoned gum boots. They are often damaged or torn to some degree but I have also found several discarded boots in perfect condition. These boots are worn by virtually everybody here: fishermen looking for crabs at night, kids going to school on rainy days, and farmers cultivating crops, just to name a few.

A tarantula I spotted on my way to the bathroom at night. Solentiname would be an arachnophobic's worst nightmare. Most people here don't worry about tarantulas very much as they are quite slow and skittish. Scorpions and snakes, on the other hand, are much more feared and will often be killed on sight.

Forty years ago, Solentiname was mostly - if not completely - inhabited by Catholics. Ernesto Cardenal, a famous and influential Nicaraguan priest and poet, played a very important role in the archipelago at that time. He introduced liberation theology and founded a catholic church in Mancarrón. Nowadays, other Christian sects like Evangelicalism and the Seventh-day Adventist Church are becoming increasingly popular. Regardless, most people here believe in Jesus Christ.

Also known as "las islas del arte" or "islands of art," Solentiname is home to some very talented artisans who specialize their craft in producing balsa wood sculptures like the ones featured above. Visit soon to learn more about these talented artists and to view more of their work.

San Fernando Kids

2010-06-06T00:17:00.001-04:00

San Fernando is Solentiname's third or fourth largest island (I'm not quite sure at the moment). On a clear day, the island's most populated pueblo offers some fantastic views of several of northern Costa Rica's many volcanoes. Sunset as seen from San Fernando is also a delight.

Anyways, this post is not about sunsets or volcanoes - it is about children. As a volunteer teaching photography and reading classes to Solentiname's children, I spend a fair amount of time surrounded by youngsters, which means I end up taking plenty of pictures of them. Here's a set of images I took of kids in San Fernando. Though I haven't had the opportunity to teach in San Fernando I have been slowly making some young friends during my weekly excursion to refill my water supply at the island's well (Solentiname's only source of purified water - many Solentinameños still drink lake water).

The Mood of Mancarroncito

2010-06-04T14:38:00.001-04:00

Is it possible to convey an island's mood through photographs without actually showing you images of its landscapes? I think so. At least, that is what I'm trying to do in this post. I'm offering you five pictures of people and one picture of Mancarroncito's view of the sunset. The images of the people offer different moods felt within this special environment. But how might a picture of a sunset contribute to this series? Well, I believe a community's view of the sunset can be very suggestive of the environment's feel - especially when the view is so breathtaking. The sun's setting - tremendous, orange, and gloriously resting upon the horizon - as seen by an outsider visiting Mancarroncito is something to stop and gawk at. The local, however, accustomed to the magnificent, yet routine occurrence does not need to look west towards the horizon to appreciate the sunset's beauty, for he carries some of that splendor within him. And that splendor is felt in the air.

For the sake of this experimental post, I will not write too much about Mancarroncito. I want the viewer to view these six photographs and come up with his/her unique conception of this island. All I will say is that Mancarroncito is Solentiname's westernmost "large" island and its few inhabitants live spread out along a roughly five kilometer trail.

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***The second to last image or the picture of the girl next to the candle is one of my photography students. She took some beautiful pictures during my week-long workshop in Mancarroncito - to view some of her work please visit her profile page on Miradas de Solentiname.***

Storm Clouds Over Costa Rica

2010-06-03T13:18:00.001-04:00

Here are two photographs I took last night from Mancarrón, Solentiname of lightning-lit storm clouds over Costa Rica. I had never seen such an impressive storm from such an unobstructed view. The beauty of the natural spectacle was truly impressive. I can finally understand the allure that spurs photographers, videographers, and other fanatics to chase storms.

Most of Costa Rica is currently under storm alerts as multiple storm systems make their was across the country.

Solentiname Portraits, Part 1

2010-06-02T13:03:00.001-04:00

An amateur Solentiname baseball player who, moments earlier, missed a fly ball that struck him in the face and left a swollen cheek.

Dressed in some of their best outfits, a group of friends posing for a group portrait react as I took pictures before they were all ready.

Two friends bathe in Lake Nicaragua's murky water.

Portrait taken in Sector Ortega.

La Lagartera: One Island, One Home, One Family

2010-05-31T13:21:00.003-04:00

La Lagartera family portrait with a visiting relative (second from left) but without one of the Obando brothers' wives.

A few of Solentiname, Nicaragua's 36 islands are only inhabited by one family. La Lagartera is one such island. No longer or wider than 100 yards, La Lagartera is home to some members of the Obando family as well as their spouses. They live in a very modest house with no electricity or plumbing and share their very limited space with a few dogs, several chickens, a handful of turkeys, and a piglet.

By rowboat, La Lagartera is only a few minutes away from Mancarrón, Solentiname's largest and most populated island, where the men often work cultivating crops. La Lagartera's men, the Obando father, two of his sons, and, on occasion, a visiting friend or relative also fish regularly for themselves. While they are out working or fishing, the Obando brothers' wives usually stay at home where they clean, cook, feed the animals, and take care of the island's only baby.

Few foreigners, if any beside myself, have ever visited La Lagartera. As I discovered after my visit, some Solentinameños aren't even aware that people live on the tiny island. The Obando residence, set atop the island's only slightly elevated hill, is almost completely hidden from view by tall mango, palm, and coconut trees.

Here is a look into the small, yet captivating single-family-community of La Lagartera island.

Geraldo Obando with his only son.

Geraldo and Maria Jose's only son - La Lagartera's youngest resident.

Detail of the Obando's house.

Maria Jose and Ana Jancy display and look at some of their only family photographs.

A selection of family photographs. The images on the top right, top left, and bottom left corners were taken several years ago at Ana Jancy's recently born twins funeral. The twins died shortly after their premature birth.

Inside the Obando's dimly-lit, dirt-floor kitchen.

Tabletop view of the corn used to feed La Lagartera's chickens, turkeys, and piglet.

High up in a mango tree, Geraldo reaches for a wooden pole to help him knock coconuts loose from a nearby coconut tree.

After knocking several coconuts loose, La Lagartera's men enjoy the sweet meat of the tropical seed down the hill from their house.

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***If you still haven't visited Miradas de Solentiname, my students' photo blog, please take five minutes to check it out and write an encouraging comment about these young photographers' beautiful work. For those of you who have been following their work, I am happy to announce that I have just posted a new entry featuring some of nine-year-old Yolanda P.'s best work.***

La Venada: Open Space, Empty Space

2010-05-30T17:25:00.001-04:00

Sunset in the dry months as seen from the open space of a partially cleared field.

The front door to a humble home, unadorned except for the small cross nailed to the entrance.

One of La Venada's two schools, this is the one-room Escuela San Jerónimo after school is let out. One teacher is responsible for teaching over thirty preschool and primary school students of all ages in this tight space.

The empty space of an apparently forgotten or abandoned front porch.

The Youth of Escuela San Gerónimo

2010-05-16T00:51:00.001-04:00

La Venada, Solentiname's second largest island, has two multi-grade primary school's. This set of pictures focuses around the students that attend one of the island's schools: Escuela San Gerónimo. The school (pictured above with students waiting for class to start) is composed of a simple one-room, wooden building with a zinc roof. In this school alone, one teacher is responsible for teaching about 30 children ranging from four to 17 years old.

I had the pleasure of spending a week teaching photography and reading classes to some of the school's students and have published some of their pictures on Miradas de Solentiname: a blog that reveals some of Solentiname's young photographers' finest work.

As I discovered, daily life for many of the San Gerónimo's students begins at sunrise with a bath in the lake, breakfast soon after, maybe a quick shot at homework, a 15 to 30 minute walk through pastures of wandering cattle to school, and - if their lucky - a speedy game of football or baseball before class starts at eight. With school getting out at noon, most of the younger kids have the rest of the day free to do as they please while the older ones help their families with daily chores - cleaning, washing, fishing, and cooking just to name a few. At dusk comes dinner and shortly after dinner comes bedtime. That's when the joyous sound of the childrens daylong laughter gives way to the rhythmic sound of lake water lapping against the rocky shore.

Funeral

2010-04-18T13:36:00.001-04:00

Don Julio died on March 10 at the age of 89. He was buried on March 11 along with his treasured radio. Born in Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua in 1920, Don Julio was raised in Granada. At the age of 15, he moved to Solentiname where he worked as a campesino for most of his life.

Family and friends in Mancarrón, Solentiname's largest and most populated island, gather beside the simple coffin before it is transported to the cemetery on La Venada, another one of the archipelago's 36 islands.

Family and friends take turns carrying Don Julio's coffin from the deceased's home to the dock where several boats wait to take all of the mourners to La Venada.

Dozens of passengers inside of the largest boat in the funeral procession going to La Venada.

At the head of a long line of over 50 people, several men carried Don Julio's coffin for over ten minutes as they made their way to La Venada's cemetery.

People make their way to La Venada's cemetery where Don Julio will be buried beside his wife's grave.

One of Don Julio's two sons (right) and two friends stand beside one of the cemetery's few graves.

Friends and family stand beside the open, empty grave moments before Don Julio's coffin is lowered.

Young Solentinameños stand beside the grave as men begin to shovel the rock-littered soil over the coffin.

*To view a few photos that one of Don Julio's granddaughters, Reyna, took of him before he died, visit Miradas de Solentiname - a new blog featuring photographs taken by Solentiname's youth.

A New Blog to be Excited About!

2010-04-09T17:52:00.001-04:00

Hello everybody,

I am very happy to announce that I have finally created a blog to showcase my photography students' stories and photographs. Since one of my objectives in bringing photography to Solentiname was to help the youth feel more connected to the distant and mysterious world around them, I view this new blog as a very important resource in helping them feel less isolated. So, if you can, please support them by commenting on their pictures and stories. Your encouragement will not only put a smile on their face, it will also give them a well needed confidence boost.

The name of the new blog is Miradas de Solentiname, which roughly means Perspectives of Solentiname. For the time being, all the text on the blog will be in Spanish (sorry, non-Spanish speakers!) but I'm currently looking for a program that might be able to translate the entire blog into several other languages. I hope you will all take a moment to look at Miradas de Solentiname. Even if you don't understand Spanish, you can at least appreciate the beautiful pictures being made by Solentiname's youth.

Here is the url for Miradas: www.miradasdesolentiname.blogspot.com.

Thank you,
Tiago Genoveze

Self-Expression and Introspection

2010-04-07T12:42:00.003-04:00

Though my passion for photography revolves around taking pictures of others, I have always enjoyed becoming a subject in my own photographs. When I need a break from the documentary doctrine of becoming an invisible photographer (ie. when a person looks at your photo he/she completely forgets about the photographer that took it) I often indulge in the therapeutic act of taking self-portraits. Usually, I don't know what I want my self-portraits to mean or represent. I think of a potential image, take it, and, like a game, try to make some sense of it later... or not. Anyways, here are a few of my favorites from the last month.

*Check out my most recent post on La Vida Idealist about a challenge I've had in expressing my religious views to the people of Solentiname.

Santa Rosa: Daily Scenes, Homes, and Details

2010-04-05T13:45:00.001-04:00

Doña Juana, Santa Rosa's matriarch.

One of Santa Rosa's eight houses.

A crate of fish after they've been gutted, cleaned, and salted.

Tania

Decorations

Caged parrot

Don Emanuel, Santa Rosa's patriarch.

Sheets out to dry

A boy holds a dead iguana before it is cooked.

Kitchen

At night, the people of Santa Rosa come together to eat, talk, and play cards.

Photo Classes in Santa Rosa

2010-03-16T14:30:00.003-04:00

Imagine being a child and living on a tiny island with most of your extended family – brothers, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and all. Electricity is sparse and beyond not having any computers or videogames, you’ve also never used the Internet before. You’ll usually go to the island’s small school with one classroom five days a week from eight in the morning until noon. Apart from the chores you need to help your family with, the rest of your day is free. Life, though monotonous at times, is very good. All of your friends and family are always a few footsteps away. You have virtually endless supplies of drinking water and fish from the lake as well as rice, beans, and other fruits and vegetables you might cultivate on a nearby island. Every once a while you’ll go to another island for a baseball or football game. You might also accompany some of the community’s fishermen to the nearest town - two hours away - where they sell the week’s catch.

I imagined all of these scenarios as I tried to identify with my students during my week in Santa Rosa, Solentiname where I was teaching reading and photography classes. As you might imagine, my students were immediately eager to use the flashy, little digital point-and-shoot cameras I brought along with me. While I’m currently creating a blog where I can showcase my students’ awesome pictures and profiles, I hope the following pictures that I took during one of our classes will get you excited about seeing their work. I’ll be sure to post an announcement when I launch the new blog…so, keep posted!

Check out my recent post about photo classes on La Vida Idealist.

A Brief Introduction to Santa Rosa

2010-03-16T11:37:00.002-04:00

I’m not exactly certain how small Santa Rosa is but I know that it took me about five minutes to walk from one end of the island to the other. There are only eight homes on the island and virtually all of the 50 or 60 residents are related, except for the husbands and wives who have had to search for their spouses outside of their island. Most of the men are year-round fishermen as well as farmers and field hands during the Central American winter months. The women are constantly busy tending to their children and daily chores.

After a week in Santa Rosa I fell absolutely in love with the island’s community, lifestyle, and beauty. I’ll admit that it’s difficult for me to write about the island without using an abundance of superlatives and being completely subjective. So, I’ll keep the writing short and hope that the following pictures and posts about Santa Rosa will say all and more than I’d like to.

Scenes of Daily Life in Mancarrón

2010-02-27T14:37:00.004-05:00

Roosters crowing throughout the day. Men, women, and teenagers carrying all sorts of heavy objects on their shoulders and heads. Groups of smiling children playing along the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Women in waist-deep lake water washing their clothes on a grooved wooden board. Artisans carving balsa wood into fish, chicken, iguana, and turtle-shapes in the shadows cast by their homes' zinc roofs. A lone iguana spotted on the highest branches of a nearby tree. Women cooking inside of their hot, dark, primitive kitchens. People moving to and fro on their rocking chairs and lazing in their hammocks sometimes in silence, sometimes listening to their radios, and sometimes talking with one another. Smoke emanating from piles of dry leaves being burnt. The sun setting to the sounds of the village's men as they shout at one another on the baseball pitch.

So many pictures to take, so much sound to record, not enough time to do either as much as I'd like.

* Click here to check out my new blog post on La Vida Idealist about an experience I had in Solentiname relating to education.*

Solentiname: Landscapes, Settings, and Details

2010-02-17T12:12:00.001-05:00

La Cigueña island as seen from Mancarrón.

Bird footprints in the sand.

A genízaro tree covered in parasitic plants and cactuses.

Outdoor bread-making oven.

Sliced plantains, a knife, and half of an onion.

Kitchen entrance.

Shovel at rest.

One of Mancarrón's four primary and secondary school classrooms.

Decrepit construction.

Inside the Felipe Peña classroom in Mancarrón's school building.

Kitchen lights on at dusk.

Baseball: Opening Day in Solentiname

2010-02-15T19:46:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the opening day for the baseball season here in Solentiname. Players and families from all over the archipelago took their boats to a village called Sector Ortega to kick off the season but were met with an unpleasant surprise: the newly cleared baseball field still needed a lot of work. Far from the perfect fields Americans are used to at home, Sector Ortega's field resembled an obstacle course more than a baseball pitch.

Nestled in between a set of hills, the drastically uneven field was strewn with boulders, stones, roots, and tree stumps hidden by patches of uncut grass. The teams' captains met and argued about the quality of the field and how the game should be canceled. "Why did you tell us your field was ready," asked the Mancarrón captain to the Sector Ortega captain. "You should have told us your field wasn't ready so we could play at our home," he said. After several arguments, the players came to the conclusion that the four teams present would still play their games but the games would not count as part of the season.

The baseball players here are men who cannot afford any debilitating injury. They're work consists entirely of manual labor in the fields, on the lake, or on local construction sites. Besides the physical detriments of suffering an injury, an injured man here would also suffer economically as he would have to find other ways to earn his money and collect his food.

While one of the teams had a uniform (with their island's name misspelled as Macarronsito rather than Mancarroncito) the other teams' players showed up in old, mismatched uniforms or simply in jeans and a T-shirt. The sidelines were sparsely populated by families and friends, an announcer, two guitarists, a food and drink stand, and a few stray dogs. A plate of food (an enchilada covered in salad and served on a banana leaf) cost ten Cordobas - the equivalent of US $0.50.

Gameplay was passionate but very sloppy. Shouts from the sidelines were regularly interrupted by peals of laughter as batters struck out, outfielders dropped flyballs, and infielders had to guess what direction groundballs would take after bouncing off of rocks and uneven ground. Thankfully - and much to everyone's surprise - there were no injuries as a result of the treacherous field. My village's team won it's first exhibition game 4-1 and will be able to enter the season with some confidence. Though I was too busy taking pictures to play, I hope to play the next game - but first, I've got a lot of training to do.

Children of Solentiname

2010-02-08T14:14:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of some of Solentiname's children. Though it's too early for me to write about any details or statistics regarding the youth here, I can say that there are a lot of children in Solentiname. I have had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with several children from my village during the reading classes sponsored by the organization I'm working with - Allianza para Solidaridad de Solentiname. I'm currently working out the final plans for the photo classes I've come here to teach and cannot wait to see how Solentiname's youth photographs their home.

***I am also contributing as a blogger for idealist.org's La Vida Idealist blog that features interesting articles and photos from volunteers and NGO employees working all over Latin America. Though I've only had one post on the blog so far, I'll be writing a new article every two weeks (the next post should be up tomorrow or the day after). Over the next few weeks I'll be working on a more detail-oriented article about Solentiname's youth in order to raise more awareness about their situation in general, standards of education, and access to resources. I'll let you know when I have new posts on La Vida Idealist so you can check it out if you like. Here's a link to my page on idealist's blog.***

People of the Rio Papaturro

2010-02-02T18:36:00.002-05:00

The Rio Papaturro is a river that begins in Costa Rica and, after snaking it's way north into Nicaragua, dumps out into Lake Nicaragua. The river and its surrounding area are part of Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is populated by stunningly colored birds, iguanas, turtles, and caiman. Though the river is wide near it's mouth it becomes very narrow and chocked by long grass, mangroves, and the 10-meter-long fronds of the world's largest palm tree.

3.6 kilometers from the Costa Rican border, there is a small village made up of a few hundred people, a restaurant, a small store, a soccer field, a military station, a clinic, and several farms. Though I didn't spend much time in the village I was able to speak to the man pictured below. He told me he was born in Solentiname but left because it was difficult to find work there. He left over 20 years ago to work in the plantations near Papaturro but still has most of his family in Solentiname. He has not returned to his birthplace in a long time but imagines that things have changed quite a bit.

PIG

2010-01-31T18:14:00.002-05:00

A few nights ago, a group of about nine people from Solentiname, including myself, went to go fetch a 400 pound pig so that we could cook it for a music festival this weekend. The pig had never been handled before so it put up a good fight before we were able to tie it, chase it down a hill, lead it into a lake, and then lift it into a long wooden boat. Should we have killed it before putting it in the boat? Probably, but that just wouldn't have been as much fun.

Though I didn't take pictures of the trip (for several reasons), I did take a few pictures after we had tied it to a tree later that night.

On a Ferry from Granada to San Carlos Nicaragua

2010-01-29T12:33:00.007-05:00

On Monday, I took a 16-hour ferry ride that would take me one step closer to my final destination and new home - Solentiname. The ride was long and, for the most part, pleasant for all first class passengers like myself. The first class floor (upper deck) fit about thirty tourists quite comfortably while the second class (lower deck) fit what I estimated to be over one hundred people on crammed benches.

The back area of the lower deck was the ferry's cargo bay that filled up with every stop. When we left Granada, all of the luggage was stowed in the ferry's hull. Along with about a dozen workers, responsible for moving the cargo during the ferry's three stops before San Carlos, the back area was barely filled with a few large boxes and a motorcycle.

At Sunset, we passed the ominous volcanic islands of Ometepe. That's when the strong winds that would last the whole night began to blow.

we stopped at Ometepe, dozens of passengers disembarked and dozens more entered. For over an hour, the workers that were on the back are of the lower deck were busy hauling thousands of pounds worth of fruits and vegetables that would be transported to San Carlos where the same workers would have to undo all that they had already done.

Because all of the lower deck benches were overbooked, at least thirty second class passengers had to sleep among the workers and their cargo of boxes and bananas. At every stop, families lined up along the docks with food and bags in hand and waited to enter the overcrowded ferry.

Granada, Nicaragua

2010-01-25T14:09:00.004-05:00

Unfortunately, I don't have much time to write about my first impressions and experiences in Nicaragua. I arrived in Managua on Saturday night and was picked up by a friendly Nicaraguan man who I had contracted to take me to Granada. While I was expecting some sort of generic white van, the driver took me in his personal vehicle - a beat up machine with no AC and a sign on the dashboard that read "Out of service".

As soon as we left the airport, I already began to see why Nicaragua is considered the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. Thick smoke that smelled of burnt grass filled the air as we drove through poor neighborhoods that constitute Managua's periphery. Life here seems to be lived on the streets and sidewalks. This doesn't only apply to the neighborhoods, it also applies to the Pan-American highway that cuts through agricultural areas where houses and bars are spread far out from one another. There weren't any lights along the highway to show all the pedestrians and cyclists that walked alongside the cars. As a result, drivers must drive slowly and pay constant attention to pedestrians walking in the shadows.

I wish I could have taken pictures of these dark scenes. As you'll see from my pictures, I was quite timid in my shooting. I suppose the more comfortable I get in Nicaragua, the more comfortable I will feel photographing people on the streets.

Anyways, Granada is a beautiful colonial town. In fact, on December 8, 1524, Granada became the first town to be colonized in Central America. While it has seen a fair amount of destruction throughout it's history, one wouldn't be able to tell simply by looking at the buildings' renovated exteriors.

Besides an unpleasant encounter with a Nicaraguan man holding a Mormon bible who told me that I should get out of his country, I had the pleasure of meeting some very friendly locals. Dueña Juanita (pictured below) was one of them. While I was visiting Iglesia La Merced, one of Granada's many picturesque churches, a curious woman sitting by the entrance to the bell tower began to ask me questions about where I was from and how I was liking her town (people from Granada are very proud of their home). She immediately began to tell me about her family and life in the church. She also gave me her cell number right off the bat and told me to call her whenever I was in Granada. She insisted that I prayed with her so that God would protect me during my travels. When I asked to take her picture, she also insisted that I framed a painting of Christ next to her.

Where there are tourists, there will also be beggars. It's a difficult thing to swallow sometimes but it's a fact of life in Latin America. Here are some sad sights you won't see in your guidebooks to Granada.

And here are just a few details of the colonial town that caught my eye. Now, I'm off to catch my 15-hour ferry to San Carlos where I will catch another boat that will take me to Solentiname.

Panorama: São Paulo

2010-01-15T09:54:00.001-05:00

Taken from the top of the Edíficio Altino Arantes building in downtown São Paulo.

Pedestrians in the Geographic Center of São Paulo

2010-01-15T09:44:00.005-05:00

Sé is the old financial center and current geographic center of the city of São Paulo. The streets are narrower here than in the modern neighborhoods and there are several alleys, streets, and bridges where only pedestrians are allowed to pass. Even some of the streets that are open to cars are choked with mobs of pedestrians and “illegal” street vendors.

All of this makes for an ideal place to people watch. On December 4 I published a post called In Transit: Three Countries in 24 Hours where I showcased a method I used to photograph pedestrians in Toronto. I used a very similar technique for this post. Rather than openly displaying my camera as I did in Toronto, I hid it inside of my backpack (slung over my chest rather than my back) and took candid photos of pedestrians as they walked past me. I realize these pictures are banal, ordinary, and monotonous in their focus. But, what I find interesting about them is that they allow one to study the details of a frozen instant of São Paulo’s quotidian life. I hope you will enjoy these pictures as they display a range of social classes, ages, heritages, and states of mind, all captured secretly in a manner that preserves a few unprompted moments and the genuine emotion within them (not to say at all that posed pictures cannot accomplish the same).

Under Maintenance, Ten Floors Up

2010-01-15T09:17:00.005-05:00

São Paulo is a city of tall apartment buildings and office complexes. New ones are constantly going up and old ones are often under maintenance. Just from my own apartment, I can see two buildings under construction and two buildings under maintenance. Here are two photos of the buildings under maintenance.

After securing their ropes and harnesses for nearly an hour, one of the two maintenance workers prepares to casually maneuver himself onto a plank of wood dangling ten floors above the ground. I can imagine these men don’t earn very much for this kind of work.

On the tenth floor of another building next to mine, a worker on an elevator platform lights a cigarette behind a mesh screen. This maintenance job, which involved the stripping and replacement of the building’s exterior tiles, has already lasted over one year and certainly has several months before its completion.

People and Street Scenes of Embu, SP

2010-01-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

60 kilometers outside São Paulo, the largest city in South America, lies a little gem of a town called Embu. Known for its abundance of artists, tourists flock to the town in search of Brazilian culture and artwork - this happens mostly during weekends, however. During the week, and especially on a rainy day, Embu feels quaint and relaxed. The wide avenues only meant for pedestrians are empty, observed carefully by bored shop owners watching the weather change. All is quiet except for the subtle sound of raindrops and the murmurs of distant conversations.

Campos do Jordão

2010-01-07T08:13:00.002-05:00

Campos do Jordão is a municipality located about 150km northeast of São Paulo. The beauty of the Mantiqueira mountains, pictured above, attracts many tourists from the overcrowded and heavily polluted metropolis of São Paulo. While Campos do Jordão's touristic neighborhood displays an overabundance of kitschy German-inspired storefronts and buildings (which I didn't photograph), the surrounding neighborhoods, villages, and roaming livestock provide a view of the quotidian life of some of the regions native and permanent residents.

A man, his grandson (left), and a friend tend to the horses at a small tourist resort in Campos.

Wall, Boy, Wall

2010-01-05T06:09:00.001-05:00

Nena

2009-12-29T22:30:00.004-05:00

86 years old. Seven brothers and one sister. Italian parents. Stopped going to school by second grade to take care of her siblings. Wasn't happy about that. Worked as a seamstress. Raised her brother's son. Took care of herself. Never married. Aged. Tended to her plants. Lost a few siblings. Underwent heart bypass surgery. Continued living with one of her brothers. Still walks everywhere and carries heavy groceries. Having troubles with her memory - says she needs a new head. Enjoys playing cards but rarely wins. Lived her entire life in São Paulo, Brazil. My great aunt...Nena.

Cemitério Camilópolis

2009-12-29T22:06:00.001-05:00

I've always enjoyed walking through cemeteries and, on occasion, taking a few pictures of gravestones and memories of people past. Here are a few pictures of the cemetery where most of my relatives on my dad's side of the family have been buried.

I found this cemetery particularly interesting because there were pictures of the deceased everywhere. It's one thing to look at a stranger's name on a tombstone; it's a completely different experience to actually see pictures of the people who those names belonged to.

One of the cemetery workers. Among his many duties, he said he is constantly looking out for people wandering the cemetery alone as there is a frequency of robberies within the cemetery walls.

In Loving Memory of Antonia Genoveze

2009-12-25T18:37:00.001-05:00

Antonia Genoveze: July 19, 1925 - December 24, 2009

Nine years ago, doctors gave my grandmother Antonia three months to live. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and her case seemed dire. She endured multiple treatments of chemotherapy, several hospitalizations, surgery, and her share of medication with dignity. Few people, regardless of age, would have been able to bounce back from a situation like hers. Determined to lead a regular life, Antonia Genoveze remained living at home by herself, going out with her friends to dance, and having her family over for dinners, card games, and celebrations.

Over the last year, however, her situation had only declined - especially within the past month. She had been hospitalized since December 11 because she could barely stand, eat, or go to the bathroom. Her edema, or build up of fluid in the body caused by her cancer, was also more alarming and debilitating than ever. She died in her sleep the day before Christmas.

Her life began on a farm in Campinas, São Paulo to an Italian father who immigrated to Brazil in 1891 and a Brazilian mother with Italian blood. Her life changed completely when she moved to the massive city of São Paulo to work as a babysitter. She married her cousin, Carlos Genoveze, in 1947 and had three children: Antonio Carlos, Maria Regina, and Pedro Paulo. Her kids had their kids and she became a loving grandmother to nine lucky human beings (me being one of them, of course).

My grandmother was an incredibly friendly person who cherished her friends and family above everything else. She made the best gnocchi I've ever eaten in my life though she never cared much for it herself. Still, she made it whenever she held family gatherings at her home just so that we could enjoy her inherited culinary talents. She had an easy smile and beautiful blue-green eyes. Though I'll miss her terribly, I'll always smile when I remember her beautiful face and ebullient soul.

Light and Colors at Dusk

2009-12-16T12:09:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, as the sun was about to set, São Paulo was cast in an eerie mix of orange, pink, red and purple. Surfaces of buildings reflected the colors diffused by the heavy sky above. I hadn't seen a sunset like this before so I took a few pictures. This is what the sunset looked like from the windows of my parents apartment.

Looking Out

2009-12-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more pictures I took on my walk along the "Minhocão" on Sunday. Only equipped with my wide angle lens, I kept wishing I'd brought my telephoto lens to take close up portraits of people poking their heads out of their apartment windows that look out directly onto the noisy thruway. In order to compensate, I've included the original picture as well as a very cropped image that allows for a better look at my subjects. Enjoy!

This little girl was unfazed by the fact that I was taking her picture. In the close-up version, she looks almost critical of me

Before I took this picture I motioned towards my camera in a "Do you mind if I take your picture" way. He gave me the thumbs up and posed for me.

First, I made eye contact with this woman. She flashed me a genuine smile and a wave. Then, I motioned towards my camera and she motioned something vague back to me and ran inside her house. I waited for a few moments and watched her come out with her dog. That made me smile.

This guy wasn't happy at all that I took his picture. When I took the picture I wasn't sure if he would spot me because he kept looking down at the street. Well, he did and he shouted a few insults at me. Just goes to prove that you can never tell how someone is going to react when you take your picture.

Sunday Walk on the "Minhocão"

2009-12-08T20:52:00.001-05:00

The "Minhocão" is a 3.5 km long elevated thruway that runs through São Paulo. Every Sunday, the thruway is closed to all automobiles so that residents of São Paulo can walk, jog, skate, bike, or relax along the snaking road. I had never been for a walk along the Minhocão so my parents decided it was time I checked it out.

In the past, I have been too scared to take my expensive and flashy digital camera to the streets of São Paulo in fear that it might get stolen or...worse. I hear stories all the time of petty robbery in the city. It seems like being robbed is only a matter of time and luck in a city like São Paulo. But worse are the stories of people who are shot point blank after coming out of an ATM past dark or resisting a robbery. Well, as my passion (bordering on obsession) for photography has increased I have made a pact with myself that I will overcome my fear of shooting in SP, taking precautions of course, and try to capture moments and people that symbolize this city for me.

The "Minhocão" offers plenty of opportunities in terms of photography. Being above street level, you have overhead views of people on the streets below as well as eye-level with people in their apartments and balconies (this theme will constitute the next post). After walking with my camera out and taking a few pictures here and there, I walked past three sinister-looking, shirtless youths who looked me and my camera up and down. They weren't glancing at all. They were staring. I feared for the worst and kept walking ahead. Thankfully, nothing happened. But, I took the experience as a reminder and warning that a) the camera made me look like a wealthy tourist and therefore a prime target and b) the last thing I wanted was to lose my camera and put myself and my parents at risk. So, I put it away and walked on.

Details of a Grandmother

2009-12-06T21:16:00.000-05:00

Routine. Grandmother Lily's life is all about routine and order. Her house is always impeccable and her daily schedule couldn't be more regular. She still has the same fridge, stove, water filter, and furniture as she had a few decades ago. She still keeps her glasses, plates, and silverware in the same places. As her grandchildren have all grown up and gone through university and into the working life, grandma has sadly diminished her stocks of cookies and candy in the large yellow closet in the kitchen.

I no longer wonder why her skin is so delicate and crinkled or why the veins on her arms, hands, and feet stick out the way they do - things that fascinated me as a child. I pay attention to her mannerisms and admire the quaint details and vibrant colors that make her, as well as her home, so memorable to me.

In Transit: Three Countries in 24 Hours

2009-12-04T09:52:00.003-05:00

I left Boston, MA on December 1 to fly South for the winter. In between my origin and destination I visited a friend in Toronto where I had a twelve-hour layover. In the span of one day, I was able to experience three distinct cities with very different people and cultures. As usual, I focused my camera on the people around me. I always find the people I photograph interesting - for endless reasons, of course - and hope you do too.

Country #1: United States (city:boston)

Flying out of Boston on a clear and sunny morning allowed for a perfect view of the downtown area. In the four years that I flew in and out of Boston, I had never had such an idyllic view of the city.

Country #2: Canada (city:toronto)

Having never been to Toronto before, I was eager to shoot as much as I could in ten hours. I quickly realized, however, that I also wanted to enjoy the company of a friend who I might not see for quite some time. Instead of sacrificing either my creative instinct or time with a friend, I decided to indulge in the mindless technique of shooting from the hip (or in my case, the chest). I set my camera to aperture priority mode at f8 with the focus at five feet and ISO 800. I had never done this with my 50mm lens before so I really had no expectations. By never looking through the viewfinder to make adjustments to aperture, shutter speed, composition, and focus, I was able to maintain conversation with my friend the entire time and invest no expectations in the photos I was snapping of pedestrians walking past me. The benefits of this style of photography are that you always capture what you don't expect and - more importantly - that people's genuine (sometimes unflattering) fleeting expressions are left uninterrupted and unaltered.

Though my friend Jenna (pictured below) took me to six different Toronto neighborhoods, most of the pictures I've included for this post were taken in Kensington Market and Chinatown. Thanks for the walking tour Jenna.

Country #3: Brazil (city:são paulo)

After the ten hour flight from Toronto to São Paulo I was greeted at the Guarulhos International Airport by my smiling parents. After several hugs and kisses, it was time to make the drive to our apartment near the center of one of the largest cities on the planet. On the way home, I was able to snap a few frames out of the passenger window while my dad drove.

These doors underneath a railroad bridge have always been a mystery to me. I find it hard to believe that the residents of this place are either squatters, legal tenants, or home owners because of the nature and location of their home.

My Brother Felipe

2009-11-28T21:47:00.000-05:00

My brother Felipe and I walked a trail in the Blue Hill Reservation today just 14 miles outside of Boston. As I'm preparing to leave for Brazil and Nicaragua I know that I will not see him again for at least half a year.

Antoine's Pastry Shop: Two Portraits

2009-11-26T16:18:00.002-05:00

Antoine's Pastry Shop is a quaint and cozy bakery in Newton. I was helped by these two very friendly people. The photo above is a panorama because I took three pictures and merged them together in photoshop. I was thinking to myself the other day about ways that I can do diversify my portraits and I thought about trying to do a series like this where I take a picture of my subject as well as two other pictures showing the person's immediate surroundings and merge them into one panorama. This is the only one I have so far but stay tuned for more in the coming week[s].

Bringing Photography to Solentiname, Nicaragua

2009-11-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Some of you might know that I'm planning on going to Nicaragua in mid-January to volunteer in a small community where I will be teaching photography among other subjects to the children of a very isolated and rural community called Solentiname. Well, the decision is final now and I am in the process of raising funds and seeking donations to make this project happen.

Because the non-profit organization I am teaming up with, Allianza para Solidaridad de Solentiname, is very small, we do not have the money to make this happen independently. While I am looking into grants, I realize that they do not solve the short-term issue of getting this project started immediately. So, I ask any of you who are willing to part with an old or extra digital point and shoot camera to please contact me immediately. There is no way for me to repay your kindness, of course, but once the photography classes begin you will be able to track my students' progress on a new blog dedicated solely to their efforts.

If you would like to hear more about this project and how you can help, please do not hesitate to call me at 617-833-8417 or email me at tiago.genoveze@gmail.com.

Thank you,
TG

Brattleboro, Vermont: Bridge

2009-11-15T23:48:00.006-05:00

Rainy Day

2009-11-15T23:45:00.001-05:00

Silhouetted Pedestrian

2009-11-14T11:03:00.004-05:00

Singled Out

2009-11-14T11:01:00.001-05:00

A year ago I would never have taken a picture like this simply because of my timidity. Today, I am slowly starting to become more comfortable with taking pictures of strangers even if it makes them a bit uncomfortable. In this case, I was crossing the street when I saw this girl standing against a wall by herself. I lifted the camera and quickly changed the shutter speed before the girl began turning away from me. In the end, she smiled at me as I walked away.

Two pictures in three seconds while driving past a T stop in Brookline

2009-11-14T00:33:00.000-05:00

The title says it all. I only began taking pictures while driving two months ago in Upstate New York. I usually don't look through the viewfinder when I do this because I've found that I end up swerving out of my lane. There's absolutely no skill involved in taking these pictures but there's an aesthetic quality that attracts me to them. Maybe it's just the fact that the photos never come out how you expect them to. They're always either a bit out of focus, a bit too early, a bit too late, or simply aimed at the completely wrong direction. Most of the time they're complete trash. But I suppose I like them because of their flaws.

Brighton Back Alleys

2009-11-14T00:20:00.001-05:00

Back alleys are often desolate and unexplored. You could live your whole life in a city and know every street corner but have no conception of the alleys that dissect the city blocks. In that sense, alleys can offer a familiar place a fresh appeal. So, next time you're bored with your city, go snoop around your local back alleys.

An empty garage.

The wind entered this nook and spun the dry leaves and strewn papers into a silent vortex.

On Break

2009-11-14T00:06:00.001-05:00

Allston Street People

2009-11-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Upstate NY

2009-11-05T18:05:00.004-05:00

My time in Upstate NY has come to an end. The past two months have been very productive and refreshing. Having never lived in a rural place, I managed to get a glimpse of what life in small town America is like. I've met some wonderful people and seen some beautiful places. Now, Boston.

Cooperstown Cyclist

2009-11-05T17:53:00.001-05:00

Matt Jones has been passionate about cycling for several years now. In his blog - The Jackrabbit Chronicles (http://jackrabbitracing.blogspot.com/) - Jones discusses everything from family life to U2 concerts and, of course, all things cycling.

Country traffic jam = cow crossing

Moonlight and Fog

2009-11-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

Without a cloud in the sky, the full moon made its present fully felt on the rolling hills and lonely landscape of Milford, NY. The low-lying fog only enhanced the brightness of the moonlight as it drifted across the intersection of route 166 and county highway 33. Click on the image to see it in greater detail.

Here are a few detail shots of the intersection and its landmarks.

*I apologize for the poor rendering of these photos. It seems like blogspot doesn't handle the night sky too well.*

West Winfield, NY

2009-11-01T15:27:00.000-05:00

Country Automobiles

2009-11-01T15:21:00.002-05:00

This car was just lying around in an empty lot in West Winfield. I can't figure out if I missed the destruction derby or not.

This pickup is actually used for maintenance on the railroad that runs from Milford to Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T00:42:00.002-04:00

I made this picture by setting my camera on a tripod in a pitch dark room and leaving the shutter open for half a minute. I used an off-hand flash twice - once to light my face from beneath and then to light a toy skeleton from the side. The snaking red lines around my face were made by the red "ready" light on my flash. All I had to do was to swing my flash around backwards for a bit. Simple as pie.