Martín Chambi Peruvian Photographer (1891-1973)

At one of the major intersections in Cuzco, Perú there is a large statue of Martín Chambi recognizing his contribution to the arts. Of course MOMA, the BBC, and many other organizations also extended such recognition through retrospectives and various videos.

Chambi was born in the near folkloric town of Puno on the banks of Lake Titicaca, and died in Cuzco in 1973.

In the early 1900’s Chambi traveled Peru and Chile documenting indigenous people with his large format camera. About 7 years ago I met Chambi’s grandson in Cuzco and had a tour of the Chambi negative/glass plate archives he was organizing with the goal of opening a Chambi museum. Concurrent with that visit, The Bank of Nova Scotia was holding a retrospective hence I got a good feel for his work. His portraits are his strength from my viewpoint-not his landscapes. I suspect his full length portrait of the 7’6” indigenous person

is his most valuable. The full story can be understood in the Spanish Language video linked below

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#drafts/FMfcgxwKjTQrZMGcxCgChMLgQmKQbWQV?projector=1

Burk Uzzle F11 and Be There

The New York Times review linked below is to a documentary on Uzzle. It is interesting for me to recall some of the events that have happened from a street photogs viewpoint. I am not too sure about F11 though. I seem to have preferred the f64 landscape folks…and I sure as hell don’t use f11 as much as say f5.6 these days. Could it be too much coffee or just age?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/movies/f11-and-be-review.html

Zozobra-A Santa Fe NM festival with a history

Zozobra- Burning away your troubles and gloom

In the Life in New Mexico Section B of   Albuquerque Sunday Journal, Elaine Briseño summarizes the long standing tradition of burning "Old Man Gloom."  This annual festival needs to be added to many unusual festivals such as the massive tomato fight that Spain puts on, or the Punkin Chunkin festival where Delaware determines who can catapult a pumpkin the most distance.  Of course the Pamplona running of the bulls could also be included, but that one is quite serious. While Nathan's hot dog eating contest in Coney Island has long since become big business.In  New Mexico the zozobra (meaning doom and gloom or anxiety in Spanish) festival began in 1924 when a Santa Fe artist William Shuster first burned his large zozobra paper mâché puppet to protest fees being charged for the festival described below.  The idea came to him after a visit with the Yaqui indians in México, the latter setting their paper mâché Judas statue ablaze.  Long before 1924 Santa Fe folks annually celebrated annually the Fiestas of Santa Fe commemorating the 1692 reoccupation of Santa Fe.On September 4, 2020 the Kiwanis of Albuquerque will host the event again this year.  It will be an on-line only event this year.  The Newbie Guide to the festival can be found here.https://burnzozobra.com/first-timers-guide-zozobra/

Columbus, New Mexico

Each March hundreds of riders congregate in Columbus to commemorate the Pancho Villa raid on Columbus Army Depot in 1916. It is known as the cabalgata, which roughly translates as cavalry. It coincides with street fairs and photographic opportunities, Riders come via horseback from Chihuahua, México as well as Texas and New Mexico to participate.

My Top Five Countries for Photography

1. México-Perhaps it is the years spent living, working and visiting our southern neighbors.. Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, and numerous other places.. Spending a morning driving around Lake Pátzcuaro (Michoacán) has abundant photo potential, as does the former DF-a great city to walk the streets. One specific recommendation is to read one or two books that might give you a feel for the country which inevitably will put understanding into your photography. In the case of México “The Old Gringo” (fiction by Carlos Fuentes) and “La Capital, the Biography of Mexico City”. (a history of México City by Jonathan Kandell) are two such examples.

2. Cuba-La Habana is a unique city for street photography due to the willingness and hospitality of the habaneros. Walk the streets of Habana vieja and I am certain you will find ample street portrait opportunities, and get to know people in the process. More than likely you will be invited into peoples homes for tea. If you do not speak Spanish, try joining the Santa Fe Photographic workshops, which I feel certain will be reinstated after Mr. virus takes a hike.

3. Japan-This one needs a different approach, as it is unlikely you will get a good feel for the country without living the experience for a prolonged time. Much more difficult to reach cultural understanding due to language barriers. My Japanese images are not on par with those taken in other countries due to this lack of knowledge. For this reason very few are featured on this website. Nonetheless, it remains one of my top destinations due to the nature of the people and cultural traditions.

4. Nepal-While I have not visited since the 1970’s I feel pretty certain it would retain my interest level, in spite of ongoing political uncertainty. At one point I thought about photography as a career. Living in Tokyo at the time I decided to read every book about Nepal I could find. (“Seven Years in Tibet” is a classic about the region). The following summer I took a two week photography trip to Katmandu and Pokhara hoping to sell my work upon return to Tokyo. ( The trip cost $3,500 my income from selling my work totaled $500. I remained in the financial services industry. People portraits in Nepal are special.

5. USA-Nature and landscapes in the US are defined by our marvelous national park system, with Death Valley Valley being my preferred location. The dunes at Stovepipe Wells and Badwater basin are two spots that head the list of natural interest in Death Valley for me. If I were younger I would be making 8X10 inch Death Valley contact prints with a fancy Ebony large format camera.