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THE WORKSHOP . REGISTRATION INFORMATION
OAXACA PHOTOGRAPHY TRAVEL WORKSHOP 2008
October 28-November 5, 2008
Includes Day of the Dead Events
LIMITED TO 9 PARTICIPANTS
Participants will receive:
|
 San Antonino Cemetery Decoration |
ACCOMMODATIONS
Reservations have been made at the
Hotel Marques del Valle on the central square
This ninth annual workshop in Oaxaca is open to serious amateurs and professional photographers. While, there will be help with more advanced functions/operations of the camera, participants need to be comfortable with the basic workings of their equipment. Digital photographer must bring a laptop computer and know how to download their camera images.
| WORKSHOP INFORMATION |
Jo Brenzo is a highly qualified teacher who has a passion for her art form with many years experience in leading this workshop in Oaxaca. With her knowledge of photography, culture, locations and photographic imaging, she provides a balanced guidance and instruction to assist workshop participants in obtaining fulfilling results.
Participants will receive shooting instructions and lectures relating to particular issues of photographing in Oaxaca, as well as photography in general. Critique/problem solving sessions will follow most shooting events including the downloading and viewing of digital mages. Within the city, parades of children in costume from the different schools arrive in the central square most mornings. There are innumerable processions in the plaza throughout these days including many evening processions of young people and adults wearing costumes. There will be a morning shooting excursion to the Mercado Abastos to photograph ‘Day of the Dead‘ figuros, bread, flowers plus many other general market images. We will visit the San Miguel Cemetery during the day when gaves are being cleaned and sand carpets and altars are under construction. We will return at night for the candlelight, music, and processions. There will be shooting field trips to local villages like San Felipe del Agua where the cemetery is anything but solemn on the ‘ Day of the Dead ‘; the Comparsa in Etla, where local people dressed in outfits with mirrors and bells to dance traveling from house to house and ending up in the plaza; the San Antonino Cemetery where prizes are awarded for the most unusual and elaborate decorations on their unique mounded tomb formations; Xoxocotlan with flowers, candles, and people crowded together. The villages provide a change of pace and visits to the many shops and homes of some of Oaxaca’s most talented artists provide countless photographic opportunities. We will drive for about an hour and 45 minutes up to the top of the mountains to ‘Hierve de Agua’ to natural mineral spring. Even if you choose not to immerse yourself in the pool located on top of a mountain, the scenery is spectacular. You’ll delight in photographing the yellow, gold, amber-depending on the light-mineral deposits, tee, rustic buildings, not to mention panoramic view of the mountains and valley below. We will visit the archeological site in Mitla and have lunch, photograph the famous 400 year-old giant tree in Tule, and make other stops as time permits.
ABOUT THE DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION
Mexican “Day of the Dead” celebrations hold much fascination for visitors. It is a solemn and prayer-filled celebration, yet it is festive and even irreverent – grinning sugar skulls are common adornment. It is a remarkable merging of pre-Hispanic “cult of the dead” traditions with Roman Catholic All Saints and All Souls Day remembrances. During Day of the Dead, ancestral spirits are invited to return to visit those who continue on earth. The dead are lured by colorful, flower-filled altars decorated with bread, sugar figures and offerings of favorite dishes and drinks that the departed enjoyed during life.In Oaxaca, Day of the Dead includes fabulous Sand Sculpted Carpets in Bellas Artes and in the cemeteries. Each surrounding village has its own special twist on the celebration – dances are preformed in one, the souls of small children are thought to visit at four in the afternoon in another. The commemorations remind people that death is illusive, life is eternal and the intangible presence of a loved one is everlasting.
Day of the dead lasts for day in Oaxaca, presenting a week filled with unusually stunning images. Fabulous candlelit altars are constructed in stores, churches and homes. Blazing orange flowers line altars and gravesites to mark the way for the spirits. “Sand Carpets, mostly depicting religious figures, skeletons and other images, can be photographed during their construction and as they are judged as finished work. Small villages unknown to tourists will be visited.
Instructor: Jo Brenzo
Assistant Instructor: Gary Berkowitz
Participants: Professionls & Serious Amateurs
Camera Formats: Digital, 35mm & Medium Format Film
HOLLOWEEN PARADES
A day-time parade of children dressed for Halloween with elaborate, home-made costumes. The innocent faces of the children contrast with the witches, monsters and ghoulish creatures they represent.PANTEON SAN MIGUEL
San Miguel residents begin designing their “tapete de arena” (sand carpets) around noon and by eight at night, the colorful sand paintings are finished and on display in the entrance hall to the cemetery. Beyond, are altars people have constructed to honor their dead, Wall niches filled with candles throw a soft light on the sand creations, which are judged for style and originality. A band lends atmosphere during the judging, and street vendors offer “Pan de Muertos” and hot chocolate.
SAN ANTONINO CEMETERY
Early in the afternoon people are busy decorating the graves of their beloved deceased with flowers and sand, building sand coffins or altars. The altars have offerings for the dead-favorite food and drink they enjoyed when they were on earth. A contest is held to choose the best decorations. The people are friendly there, inviting one to see their graves and take pictures.
SAN FELIPE DEL AGUA CEMETERY
Candles flicker on hundreds of flower-filled graves, like an enormous light-filled garden on the night of the Day of the Dead. People eat, drink, laugh, sing and play cards on the graves of their ancestors while children run between the tombstones, playing. There is music and air smells like flowers. While you are photographing incredible images of relaxed, happy people, you may have to remind yourself that celebration is about Death after all.COMPARSAS IN ETLA
All year, people who dance in the Comparsas work on their costumes, so that when the night of the dance comes, the outfits jingle with bells and mirrors. Dancers line up and parade through town to the plaza, accompanied by band music. At the Plaza, they dance. Some of the dances parody world leaders like George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden and other represent events that have taken place in the past year in Etla. The dancers continue well into the early morning, taking shots of mezcal, it is said, to keep up.
SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE
Sprinkled around the city of Oaxaca are pueblitos, small town, each specializing in a different craft. In San Martin people make the alebrijes, carved and brilliantly painted wooden figures. Most of the shops are actual workshop in people’s homes. Photographic opportunities abound. You will see families at work carving and painting their products, as well as the interior yards and houses with their turkeys, chickens, burros, dogs, as well as various objects piled here and there.
MITLA
Those of you interested in history and ancient architecture may choose to photograph the archaeological site of Mitla. The people there reflect their traditional community and culture. You know you are in Southern Mexico when visiting Mitla. Because the terrain is relatively flat there are many bicycles and bicycle carts in the town. Bakeries feature very large Pascual breads, some intricately decorated others adorned with a single symbolic figure. It is a colorful village with friendly people and photographic opportunities
| INFORMATION & REGISTRATION |
WORKSHOP INFORMATION: Contact Jo Brenzo
TELEPHONE: 011 52 (415) 154-5366
E-MAIL: acdphoto@acdphoto.com
TUITION: $ 2,350 usd
(includes hotel. instruction, field trips, entrance fees, workshop book)
DEPOSIT: $600 usd
BALANCE DUE: $1,750 usd (due by September 15th)
WITHDRAWAL FEE: $200 usd
NO DEPOSIT REFUND: AFTER JUNE 30, 2008
NO WORKSHOP REFUND: AFTER SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
DISCOUNTED TUITION for shared hotel room (participants only), arranged by participant.
Assistance in matching roommates will be provided by the workshop upon request.
TO REGISTER Contact Jo Brenzo (to check on space availability)
MAKE DEPOSIT CHECK PAYABLE TO JO BRENZO
MAIL TO:
JO BRENZO
220 NO ZAPATA HWY #11
LAREDO, TX 78043
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