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Have you followed us on Instagram yet? Now’s a great time to, since over the next three days we’ll be turning our account over to Barney, where he’ll be sharing photos from a recent trip to central Mexico. It’s the trip that cemented the Leica M10 as his Gear of the Year, and provided plenty of opportunities to photograph the beauty of the region – from the captivating architecture of Queretaro to the jungle of San Luis Potosi and points in between.
Give us a follow and stay tuned!
[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]
Stairs spiral up to the sky in strange configurations, going nowhere, in a tangle of surrealist sculptural structures in a Mexican jungle. Why is this series of concrete wonders hidden within the lush vegetation of Xilitlha, and who put it there? The answer lies within the mind of Edward James, a 20th century art collector described by Salvador Dali as “crazier than all the Surrealists together.” If Dali is calling you crazy, that probably says something, and photos of James’ creations reveal a visionary thinker on par with the artists he so admired.
James, a poet and well-to-do heir who was once painted by René Magritte, was a passionate and early supporter of Surrealism, sponsoring Salvador Dali in a crucial early period of his career during which he produced some of his most valuable works. A 1978 documentary called “The Secret Life of Edward James” shows off some of his personal art collection, as well as his quirky refurbishment of Monkton House, a small 20th century house plastered with surreal interior designs. He was certainly an interesting character, which explains how Las Pozas came about.
Built more than 2,000 feet above sea level about seven hours (drive) north of Mexico City, ‘Las Pozas’ was named for the natural pools and waterfalls that characterize the site. James saw it as the ideal romantic spot for his vision of a “Garden of Eden set up.” Between 1949 and 1984, he built dozens of towering concrete structures around the pools, each of them given names like “The House on Three Floors Which Will in Fact Have Five or Four or Six,” and “The House with a Roof Like a Whale.”
The sculptures were conceived by James and his guide Plutarco Gastélum, who helped him scout the site, after his living orchid garden decades in the making was destroyed by a blizzard. The concrete ‘flowers’ would be everlasting, much hardier than anything organic he could grow. It took a crew of about 150 people to build them all. It cost more than $ 5 million to construct, a sum James raised by selling his collection of Surrealist art at auction.
After James’ death in 1984, Las Pozas was opened to the public, and it’s know owned by Fondo Xilitlha, a foundation overseeing its preservation and restoration.
Top photo: Wikimedia Commons; all other photos: Victor DeLaqua, Julia Faveri and Herbert Loureiro/ArchDaily
[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]
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Representing an enormous collective effort, this remarkable mural manages to look complete from a distance while, upon closer inspection, brightening 209 houses occupied by 452 families, impacting the lives of 1808 residents of this hillside community.
Even more remarkably, the color selections for different sections (totalling over 200,000 square feet of paint) were worked out in conjunction with those occupying the houses of Palmitas, who were asked about their favorite colors and included in the design scheme. The project has been credited with reducing youth violence and local crime rates while creating jobs for the area.
The group orchestrating this massive undertaking is called Germen Crew, self-named after germs, the seeds of ideas and art. Led by Mibe, a street artist from nearby Mexico City, the group sees itself as much as collection of community organizers and facilitators as artists or creators.
For them, residents provide multiplier effects strengthening project, process and outcome and making for a much different endeavor than murals made under the radar by individuals. In turn, the artists used a simple pallet of conventional and replicable paint colors, making it both easy to maintain but also enabling those in the neighborhood to turn doing so into a collaborative activity.
Like the Favela Project in Rio or Blue Town of Morocco, there are secondary benefits for the locals as well, including projected increases in tourism. In the case of the latter, the strange site of a single-colored town brought in close to 100,000 visitors in the six months following its completion. This project was completed with support from regional governments as well as the national government of Mexico
A year of field tests have taken DPR Editor Barney Britton and series director Eric Becker into some challenging shooting environments, so for a change of pace, at the end of last year the pair took the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV to the sun-soaked Yucatán peninsula. There they put Sony’s pocket compact through all of the rigor that any traveler might – from shooting in underwater caves to selfies amidst historic Mayan ruins. Watch the video and see Sony’s travel cam in its natural environment.
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Josh Trujillo’s ‘day job’ as a photojournalist for the Seattle PI involves him shooting across the Seattle area with a heavy DSLR outfit. For a trip back to his hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico, we equipped him with something significantly lighter: the Canon PowerShot G7 X. Santa Fe and its surrounding landscapes are incredibly photogenic; take a look as Josh explores his hometown with the G7 X. See video
[ By Steph in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]
Over 5500 miles of abandoned railways stretching from one end of Mexico to the other enticed two brothers to build an incredible retro-futuristic exploratory car. The SEFT-1 is modeled after a midcentury vision of a spaceship with an all-metal exterior and faceted windshield, and it’s equipped with modern sensors and navigation tools as well as wheels that can ride on rails.
The railroads of Mexico were abandoned in 1995 due to flagging profits, and have been left to decay ever since. Ivan Puig and Andrés Padilla Domene, both artists, wanted a novel way to experience these nearly-forgotten transportation corridors.
The SEFT-1 can drive on roads like an ordinary car, or use its extra set of front wheels to guide it along the rails. SEFT-1 stands for Sonda de Exploracion Ferroviaria Tripulada, which translates as Manned Railway Exploration Probe.
From 2010 to 2012, the brothers took the SEFT-1 on a journey that took them all the way to Ecuador, gathering data, videos, photos, objects and stories that tell the tale of what has happened to all those miles of tracks after their official use came to an end. Those findings are currently on display at London’s Furtherfield Gallery.
The age of the railroad may be over, but the marks of these powerful transport systems are evident everywhere you go – as well as abandoned train and subway …
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10-foot-tall wild animals spring to life in the streets of Mexico from the spray paint can of Belgian artist ROA, champion of the underdogs of nature.
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Deep in the swampy canals near Mexico City sits a tiny island full of forlorn toys. Created out of superstition, the island is like a nightmare come true.
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[ By Steph in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]
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Chris Sanderson, Michael Reichmann and Lula (Michael’s dog) drove last week from Toronto, Canada to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a distance of 4,000 kilometers. We covered it in 40 hours, spread over four and half days of driving. We also filmed the entire trip with a dash-cam.
Since no one in their right mind would watch a forty hour video, we compressed it down to less than one hour. You can find it online here, if you’re crazy enough to watch it.
You can win an all-expenses paid photographic expedition to Antarctica, along with air fare from anywhere in the world. The value of this prize is $ 15,000.
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The Bisti Badlands of New Mexico is one of the most intimidating yet beautiful landscapes I’ve visited. This open arid expanse quickly puts you in your place or rather makes you realize how out of place you are walking around. Extreme weather can dominate the area (heat, sand storms and extreme winds), but it is this harsh combination that has made many of the geological features there including the Egg Factory. The last time I was there I got an in person tour of these harsh conditions with winds up to 55mph making it nearly impossible to get a photo. Even amidst a windstorm it’s amazing to see an “alien” landscape in your own backyard.
Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved
The Egg Factory – Bisti Bandlands, New Mexico
The post The Egg Factory – Bisti Bandlands, New Mexico appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.
A research team from Open Minds captured photos of a strange, seemingly biologic UFO in the sky above Mexico City. For more details, you can read the full story in the August/September 2010 issue of Open Minds magazine. www.openminds.tv