I have to say that you chose the most stereotypical speciment to take a picture of and to make representative of Mexico or Mexican culture. Although I'm sure he is Mexican, if you are a young progressive photographer this one gets thumbs down.
raul
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I encountered this man on the Mexico Saltillo road when my wife made me stop to buy a copper pot. "I make them all by hand with my hammer and I make them correctly," he told me. I asked him how was business. "Life is hard," was his reply. He had been noticing my camera, "Will you take my picture," he asked as I was leaving, and so I did.
Raul, I appreciate your efforts at depicting life as you find it. I've encountered many of these vendors throughout Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. There are few good jobs in many of these areas, and the people are quite enterprising, scratching out a living as best they can. "Life is hard" as this man said, and I respect his efforts at making a living. And I love his handmade sign!
Hector
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I would disagree with you A.K.A.Lengua... I don't think this man is sterotypical at all in fact exactly the opposite, he is an extreme character. As I see it the Raul does not live in the same world as you and me. I have traveled to many of the places he has been and yet I have seen nothing of what he sees. His world is surrealistic and archaic and sometimes the pictures are not pretty, but his take on the world whether it be Tibet or Mexico or China is always fascinating. I think by your comment you see this portrait as degrading to Mexico or Mexicans, I do not see it that way, I just see it as a portait done with respect of a subject that would be ignored by most everyone else.
Anonymous
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I have to agree with Hector, A.K.A. Lengua. Are the images presented in order to form an oppinion on the greater whole of Mexico? The world? Humanity? Or, just a subset of the world that fascinates the artist.
I guess you would have to ask the artist. But, in the meantime I am enjoying seeing parts and peoples of the world I haven't yet come to meet.
I feel these photos are especially expressive of the human situation, whether pleasnt or not. Many people choose to capture the safe and sterile, others go for the vivid, extreme stories. There's certainly a place for these works, closer to Diane Arbus (http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/arbus/arbus.html) with the eagerness to show some of the more unusual side of the street. People need to see this sort of thing, whether that makes us non-PC vogeurs or not. Obviously this shouldn't be seen as Mexico as a whole. But certainly one side of it and one which is both poetic and human.
8 comments
El jefe de jefes?
I have to say that you chose the most stereotypical speciment to take a picture of and to make representative of Mexico or Mexican culture. Although I'm sure he is Mexican, if you are a young progressive photographer this one gets thumbs down.
I encountered this man on the Mexico Saltillo road when my wife made me stop to buy a copper pot. "I make them all by hand with my hammer and I make them correctly," he told me. I asked him how was business. "Life is hard," was his reply. He had been noticing my camera, "Will you take my picture," he asked as I was leaving, and so I did.
Raul, I appreciate your efforts at depicting life as you find it. I've encountered many of these vendors throughout Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. There are few good jobs in many of these areas, and the people are quite enterprising, scratching out a living as best they can. "Life is hard" as this man said, and I respect his efforts at making a living. And I love his handmade sign!
I would disagree with you A.K.A.Lengua... I don't think this man is sterotypical at all in fact exactly the opposite, he is an extreme character. As I see it the Raul does not live in the same world as you and me. I have traveled to many of the places he has been and yet I have seen nothing of what he sees. His world is surrealistic and archaic and sometimes the pictures are not pretty, but his take on the world whether it be Tibet or Mexico or China is always fascinating. I think by your comment you see this portrait as degrading to Mexico or Mexicans, I do not see it that way, I just see it as a portait done with respect of a subject that would be ignored by most everyone else.
I have to agree with Hector, A.K.A. Lengua. Are the images presented in order to form an oppinion on the greater whole of Mexico? The world? Humanity? Or, just a subset of the world that fascinates the artist.
I guess you would have to ask the artist. But, in the meantime I am enjoying seeing parts and peoples of the world I haven't yet come to meet.
Great shot, el jefe de jefes :)
I feel these photos are especially expressive of the human situation, whether pleasnt or not. Many people choose to capture the safe and sterile, others go for the vivid, extreme stories. There's certainly a place for these works, closer to Diane Arbus (http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/arbus/arbus.html) with the eagerness to show some of the more unusual side of the street. People need to see this sort of thing, whether that makes us non-PC vogeurs or not. Obviously this shouldn't be seen as Mexico as a whole. But certainly one side of it and one which is both poetic and human.
Gosh, all I see is a cross-eyed dude.