NYC

Far Rockaways after Hurricane Sandy

View from plane window on trip to New York

Dominican Convent - Xilitla, SLP, Mexico

Sisters of the Dominican Convent in Xilitla

The Dominican Monastery of the Saint Dominic Order of 

Preachers was founded in 1972 and started with ten sisters 

who came to Xilitla from Morelia, Michoacan. The primary goal

of the convent is "evangelizing through prayer and example."

The nuns earn money for the convent by selling homemade 

pastries, sweet liquors, and religious objects.  The convent offers 

space to young women interested in living as a nun; the 

youngest nun ever recruited by the convent was a 6 year old orphan.  

 

 

"By learning to wait, he altered his perception of time....

The art is without aim, without intention. Liberate yourself from 

yourself, leave behind everything that you are, everything that you have, 

so that nothing at all is left of you except the tension without the aim....

You must live for the present, because the future moves 

away like the line on the horizon as you approach it. 

To be yourself is to be outside yourself."

-Henri Cartier-Bresson

Xilitla

Jaripeo

Jaripeo, Xilitla, SLP

 

 

Primera Comunión

First Comunion

Every year on August 28th, Xilitla celebrates their patron saint San Agustín

with a variety of events and marches. The following photos are from a special first 

comunion held for roughly 50 children in the days leading up to August 28th. 

At the bottom is a group of portraits of some of the children after

their first comunion at the San Agustín church. I normally don't pose portraits, 

but here I thought it was important to show the children as individuals.

Primera Comunión

Cada año en el 28 de Agosto, Xilitla celebra el día de San Agustín, el Santo Patrón 

del pueblo, con varios eventos y procesiones. Estas fotos son de la primera 

comunión para más de 50 niños en los días antes del 28 de Agosto.

Al fínal, hay un grupo de retratos de algunos de los niños después de la primera comunión

enfrente del Ex-Convento de San Agustín. Normalmente, no hago retratos posados,

pero en este caso, pensé que era importante mostrar a los niños como individuos.

  

 

 

Curious

As I continue taking photos, my curiosity about the world grows stronger.

I want to know more about other people's lives and why certain relationships exist.

I am learning more about economic disparities and corruption in Mexico, and 

through this experience I have seen so much wealth and waste of resources.

Witnessing this contrast between extreme poverty and wealth is like stepping 

in and out of Disneyland - a place with fake props, costumes and quick rides. On the 

outside lies a whole world of desperation. People in true need, but without anyone 

who can really understand or help. Problems that have existed for so long, and that 

continue to exist without any real solution.

I take photos of the things I am curious about - 

things that I cannot understand, and things that may explain an emotion or thought.

A boy reads in a small classroom after a school graduation 

ceremony in Chalahuite, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

A worker sorts through garbage to find recyclable goods in 

San Bernal, Querétaro for a government waste program.

Rooftop of San Augustin church in Xilitla, San Luis Potosi.

Wedding decoration at the Hyatt in Austin, Texas

Tourists walk through San Sebastian Bernal, Querétaro. 

The world's 3rd largest monolith sits on the edge of San Bernal, a town 

whose economy is based primarily on tourism.

Xilitla, San Luis Potosi

Construction in Santa Catarina, Nuevo Leon.

              

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato

One of the first cries for Mexican independence, "Grito de Dolores," was made in San 

Miguel de Allende in 1810. Today over 8,000 Americans live in the town, many 

of which are retired and have taken advantage of low priced real estate.

Potrerillos, SLP