On My Way to DC for Obama's Inauguration: A pre-inauguration post

On Tuesday, January 20th, I will be one of the millions in attendance for the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama. I've been waiting almost four and a half years for this day, and for others, the events on Tuesday have been generations in the making. Please return to The Viewfinder in a couple weeks for an inauguration post. Don't expect any photos of the man himself as I won't be anywhere near him. However, I hope to piece together a nice photo essay of the people there to witness the day.

Here's a quick collection of some Obama campaign events that I revisited this afternoon.

Barack Obama speaking in the Boston Common, October 23, 2007.

The crowd behind the stage on the night that Sen. Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and Sen. John Kerry officially endorsed Obama.
Though horribly out of focus, the movement in this photo really captured the electricity in the hall.

"The fierce urgency of now."

Ron English is an American pop artist who joined the many artists who created visual street art in support of Barack Obama. The above photo is a shot from the now iconic piece, "Abraham Obama" that was installed in the South End in Boston this fall. Though I'm not a big fan of his other works, this piece is genius. English deconstructed the classic portrait of Abraham Lincoln to include the likeness of Obama. A graffiti-ist added the eye patch. The overall feel makes me a bit uneasy, but the concept is classic.

Downtown Tulum (Mexico 4 of 4)

Though most of our adventures in Mexico this December immersed us in the flora and fauna of Tulum, we did venture into the town of Tulum to experience the day-to-day of the locals.
Above, an open-air market displays a wide array of local pineapples, bananas, lemons & limes, squashes, and melons. In the background, two men talk and rest at a taqueria on what was a particularly warm afternoon.
Like the beaches, much of the industry of downtown Tulum revolves around tourism. Most of the storefronts compete for tourist dollars by displaying stereotypical Mexican wares... hammocks, colorful blankets, blue talavara vases, and sombreros. Because we were in Tulum during an extremely slow week, most of the store owners paid little attention to us, resigned to the fact that it was not a moneymaking week.
Since my trip to Montreal, I've been experimenting with shooting from the hip... literally. When photographing, I find myself obsessed with capturing moments during which the subject in the photo is completely unaffected by my presence. Though I have had marginal success with this technique, the downside is that it is extremely difficult to ensure sharpness in the setting. The above photo is a good example of the pros and cons of shooting from the hip. You can get extremely close and capture intimate shots, but the composition is less than perfect and the overall shot is blurry. I think I've decided to abandon this technique, but I am drawn to the visual mood that shooting from the hip creates.
I really love the above photo (and the next photo) because it gives equal emphasis to the individual in the photo and their environment. This woman is carrying a bowl of tortillas. Behind her is a precariously complicated network of cables and a dizzying collage of English-reading signs, advertising affordable food and lodging for tourists.
There are a lot of elements in the above photo that are in conflict with each other. I think that's the reason I am pleased with the outcome. As seen in other photos in this set, the physical environment surrounding the boy is a bit heavy. Again, we see the obtrusive power lines and phone poles. There is construction dust and machinery. Seemingly oblivious to all this is our youthful focal point... a young boy running excitedly through the street. To underscore the youthful elements in this photo, a florescent ice cream cone hangs in the background.
On our last day in Tulum, Catholic Mexicans nationwide celebrated the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In Mexican tradition, a vision of Mary appeared to a young man named Juan Diego in 1531. In the vision, he was instructed to gather roses in his cloak, and upon doing so the above image miraculously appeared on his cloak. This image is ubiquitous in Mexico. I purchased the above pigment printed cloth at a artisan gallery.
As we were driving out of town on the interstate highway, traffic halted for a procession of hundreds of feast day celebrators. On many of the processors shirts, the icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe can be seen.
The above photo is of some of the youngest processors. The girl in the center and the boy on the far right (donning an amazing painted-on mustache) noticed me as I jumped out of our shuttle to snap some shots.

The Mayan Ruins of Tulum (Mexico 3 of 4)

One of Tulum's most popular destinations are the Mayan Ruins. Situated on bluffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea, the ruins create a setting that transport visitors to another world.
Tulum, which is a Mayan word for "walled city" served as a trading port and commerce center for the city of Coba, which is situated further into the interior of Mexico. History suggests that prior to its discovery by European explorers, Tulum was called "Zama" by its citizens. Zamas is Mayan for "dawn". Though we were too lazy to get up to see the city live out its original namesake, the above photo taken around 10am, can give you an idea of the breathtaking view that Zama enjoyed each morning.

Tulum boomed between 1200-1500 AD, but was later abandoned as new diseases carried by Spanish explorers decimated Tulum's native inhabitants. The above photos depict details of the facade of the Castillo. It is the largest building situated in the center of the city. Historians maintain that it was mostly used as a ceremonial site and as the main lookout post for the city.
The above photo is the Castillo from the front. The Italian family posing in the right end of this image spotted me as I took this photo. Before long they asked me to take their picture ...seven times with seven different cameras.
Once again, the above image shows the Castillo from a side vantage point. From this angle, you can clearly see a portion of the city wall that is still intact. While at the ruins, I was really drawn to the texture and color of the stone used to hand-build the structures in the city. A stone found on this site in the 19th century bared a chiseled date of 564 AD indicating that the city may have existed centuries before its heyday.
I have to come clean with the photo above. As we were walking, I inadvertently pressed the trigger on my camera as it dangled at my hip. What resulted was an accidental shot of Laura walking through the ruins. Sometimes art just happens, and it seems that this photo is a good example. The texture and movement of Laura's skirt placed in the context of the ancient Mayan path creates a mood that allows something from the present to fit perfectly in an ancient backdrop.
The placard for the above building explained that the structure was most likely a multifamily dwelling.

Architecture Akumal (Mexico 2 of 4)

Akumal is a small resort community just about halfway between Cancun and Tulum. On Wednesday, we taxied to Akumal for a day to snorkel. After about an hour of swimming around with the fishes, we realized that our sunburns were a bit more tender than we had first noticed, so we decided to cover up and take a long walk from the lagoon into town.

The walk into Akumal turned out to be a highlight of the week in Mexico. The air was still, the road was quiet, and the architecture was stunning. With the exception of some Mexican flourishes, I quickly noticed how similarly the architecture in Akumal mirrored the buildings in Greece.

I originally took the above photo in color, but converted it to grey scale when I realized that the lowest portion of the wall so closely resembles the sweeping motion of the lowest exterior wall of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim in NYC. The Guggenheim photo in my NYC post does not show this congruency directly, but if you compare the two images you'll notice the similarities.

Akumal is a Mayan word that translates to "place of the turtles". Though this region is a prime breeding ground for sea turtles, due to the time of year of our trip, I unfortunately do not have any photos of sea turtles. My next post, however, is dedicated to the Mayan history of the region.

The Beaches of Tulum (Mexico 1 of 4)

In the immediate days after I return from traveling to a new, exotic location, I find it difficult to wrap my head around how distant a recent experience can feel. As I sit down to write this blog entry today in snowy Massachusetts, I welcome back that same sensation when I reflect upon my last week's travels to the pristine beaches of Tulum, Mexico. On a whim, Laura and I decided to take advantage of some free time, and booked a four day escape to tropical waters and equatorial breezes.

This week, I'll be updating The Viewfinder with four posts from our trip. Keeping true to the themes of previous posts, the entries will include photos of festivals; portraits of locals; and snapshots of architecture... both modern and ancient.

This post, however, is dedicated to something I've never stepped foot on (let alone take photos of) before last week... a Caribbean beach.

Though only two hours south Cancun, Tulum represents a different world. Condos and high rise resorts are replaced by solar-powered, thatched-roof cabanas; and Anglophone tourists are required to attempt their rusty Spanish in order to get around. The above photo was taken on Hemingway Beach.

The week we were in Tulum (December 8th-12th) is considered "shoulder season" for the hospitality industry of the region. American tourists down for the Thanksgiving holiday are back to reality in the north, and visitors for the winter holidays are yet to arrive. During our long walks, intersecting another vacationer was a rare occurrence.

Though this lone palm tree made a great photographic subject, I later read that a bending palm tree is an indication of poor health.

Above is Zamas, a restaurant and beach that was about a city block north of the first cabana in which we stayed. On our third night in Mexico, we had drinks at Zamas and listened to a live band called "Latin Taxi".

On multiple occasions we came across small fishing boats that had been partially submerged by abnormally high tides during hurricane season.

Boats were not the only victims of hurricane season. The above piece of driftwood was roughly the length of a pickup truck. (Click on the image for a larger view)

During our week in Mexico, the moon was the closest to the Earth it had been in 15 years. This made the nights on Tulum's beaches extremely bright. For this image, keeping my shutter open for only 30 seconds revealed a milky surf and the true color of the stars. Two of the brightest stars in this image are beginning to streak, which is a visual way to document the rotation of the Earth.