As I edited through and reflected upon images made in Latin America over the past year, I looked for exactly what it is that draws my heart to this region of the world.  In a time where coverage of Mexico and Guatemala by the mass media is saturated with crime and despair, an amazing culture and vibrant people still remain.  In my travels, I searched for my ideal Latin America, a land with an indescribable energy in the air, a land of music, art, ritual, life, and celebrated death.  What I found is a place where nostalgia collides with the surreal.  I kept returning to a quote by Octavio Paz, Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat.  Within a larger verse, Paz describes poetry as, “Between what I dream and what I forget”.  The quote so elegantly describes my personal vision and draw to this area of the world, and the images I strive to make there.  For me, it is a magic place, lost somewhere between dreams and forgotten memories.  So here’s a few more odds and ends from the most recent trip – hopefully I’ll have the good fortune to make it back soon.

As I edited through and reflected upon images made in Latin America over the past year, I looked for exactly what it is that draws my heart to this region of the world.  In a time where coverage of Mexico and Guatemala by the mass media is saturated with crime and despair, an amazing ...