In March of 1999, I visited my friend who was on a student exchange program in Guadalajara and immediately decided I would enroll the following semester. I spent six months (July - December) going to school and living in Mexico, loving every minute of it. In July of this year, I was invited to shoot a wedding in Puerto Vallarta and as it was only a four-hour bus ride away, I thought I would take two days and revisit GDL.
I arrived at 6am and stumbled off the bus and into a taxi. I took it to the centre of town, "El Centro" and waited for the sunrise. It had just stopped raining and so there was no where to sit and wait for the sky to lighten. Instead, I started to wander around in the dark and see what I could remember of the layout of the city. Rats ran along the gutters, a few drunks stumbled by, and then the sky finally started to lighten. I took this first photo of the town centre at 8am before the crowds arrived.
When the sun came out, I took this photo of a nearby church top. Beautiful colors. I used a 70-200mm lens, which drew a lot of attention when I took it out of my bag. I felt like the one white guy walking into a black bar where all the heads turn and the music stops. I kept smiling and talking to anyone who held my gaze and soon people stopped staring.
At 10am I went to the Starbucks where I was supposed to meet my friend. I called her, sent a text and left a voice mail. I totally forgot about "Mexican Time", and so at 1pm she arrived. Three hours.. not bad. I made friends with the security guard at Starbucks. Rutbe took me to a pretty part of town, Tlaquepaque and we had lunch. We had this huge bowl of tequila and water and ice with lemons in it. I can't explain how good this was.
One of the shots I have wanted to re-shoot was the mural of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla by Jose Clemente Orozco. When I was there in 1999, I didn't have a lens wide enough to capture the entire scene. Using my 8mm fish-eye I was able to stand at the base of the stairs looking up and finally get the full mural. This mural was painted inside the government building and celebrates the father of Mexican independence.
Lastly, this photo just reminded me of Conan O'Brien and so I include it here for your viewing.
In March of 1999, I visited my friend who was on a student exchange program in Guadalajara and immediately decided I would enroll the following semester. I spent six months (July - December) going to school and living in Mexico, loving every minute of it. In July of this year, I was invited to shoot a wedding in Puerto Vallarta and as it was only a four-hour bus ride away, I thought I would take two days and revisit GDL.
I arrived at 6am and stumbled off the bus and into a taxi. I took it to the centre of town, "El Centro" and waited for the sunrise. It had just stopped raining and so there was no where to sit and wait for the sky to lighten. Instead, I started to wander around in the dark and see what I could remember of the layout of the city. Rats ran along the gutters, a few drunks stumbled by, and then the sky finally started to lighten. I took this first photo of the town centre at 8am before the crowds arrived.
When the sun came out, I took this photo of a nearby church top. Beautiful colors. I used a 70-200mm lens, which drew a lot of attention when I took it out of my bag. I felt like the one white guy walking into a black bar where all the heads turn and the music stops. I kept smiling and talking to anyone who held my gaze and soon people stopped staring.
At 10am I went to the Starbucks where I was supposed to meet my friend. I called her, sent a text and left a voice mail. I totally forgot about "Mexican Time", and so at 1pm she arrived. Three hours.. not bad. I made friends with the security guard at Starbucks. Rutbe took me to a pretty part of town, Tlaquepaque and we had lunch. We had this huge bowl of tequila and water and ice with lemons in it. I can't explain how good this was.
One of the shots I have wanted to re-shoot was the mural of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla by Jose Clemente Orozco. When I was there in 1999, I didn't have a lens wide enough to capture the entire scene. Using my 8mm fish-eye I was able to stand at the base of the stairs looking up and finally get the full mural. This mural was painted inside the government building and celebrates the father of Mexican independence.
Lastly, this photo just reminded me of Conan O'Brien and so I include it here for your viewing.
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