Decimoséptimo.

Hola, hola...buenas tardes.

Mango, mango, mango.

Frijoles, aguacate, naranhas, papas, zanahoria, tomate, cacahuate, cebolla, ajo, y mas!

My diet is better than it has ever been thanks to the outdoor mercado here in San Cristobal.

For this visit I have had more than one month in a house in the mountains to myself.

Muchas gracias: Milo Tamez.

My right arm is healing from something poisonous that also made its way to my left arm.

Muy feo y mucho dolor.

Hauled many buckets of water to the top of the house multiple times using a ladder and some rope.

Rainwater washes the dishes.

Rainwater washes mi cuerpo in the shower.

After running out of gas the other week I started taking cold showers (cur-sing!).

The reward comes when drying under the sun.

The other day I am halfway through a shower when I look down to find a GIANT spider.

Made a few photographs of this special creature before taking it to the garden to enjoy itself.

My amigo asked me if it was a tarantula...ai ai ai.

Photographed a beautiful moth with the field camera...not an easy thing to do.

Photographed a cow.

Photographed a man playing a 103 year old harmonipan on the street.

Mucho vistas y a few portraits.

Soon I depart the great state of Chiapas and head to a place where I hope to have my own studio for a bit.

Very much looking forward to this as there are not too many resources for me here in San Cristobal.

What there are a lot of here: so-called hippies and so-called artists telling you they do not have any money before letting you know they 'only' came here with four thousand euro (okay!).

Riding bicycles that make me miss my Grandmother's tough-as-nails Schwinn,

though I am happy to have access to them!

Also, a lot of walking.

Six pesos for the colectivo here...THREE pesos for the train in DF!!!

Maybe the CTA should send a few representatives to Mexico and learn a thing or two.

Mucho amantes en Mexico...a beautiful thing!

Hummingbirds...butterfly eggs...some crazy looking insect that I enjoyed playing with the other night.

That Oaxacan bullshit?  We on it.

Viva Mexico.

Photo: Valeria Rodríguez, Pepen design.

Desde las montañas.

Greetings from the beautiful state of Chiapas.
Staying in the beautiful home of a fantastic musician y una bailarina.
Enjoying many walks a day with a sweet dog.
Bicycling all over and eating fresh food from a super outdoor mercado.
Was I in the middle of a cloud this morning?
Yes, I was.
From my bed the sounds from outside are coming from:
packs of wild dogs (all through the night...I do not delight in the dog barking for a few hours much before sunrise this morning), sheep grazing, one beautiful cream colored horse, a few cows, wind through the trees...and some mf construction!

In the last few weeks I spent a few days in Merida.
My sole intention was to photograph Fernando Castro Pacheco.
I arrived on a Friday morning and immediately left the bus station by foot in search of him.
After a few phone calls *made by my new friend Raul*,
I was told it was a possibility on Sunday and to try calling again then.
Doing exactly as I was told, I came back Sunday and heard I would meet the artist at noon.
Six sheets were exposed in his home.
Words cannot explain!

I also visited a gallery in Merida with an exhibition that included work by José Guadalupe Posada.
At this public gallery I met a man who told me to come back and meet someone there the next day.
This man is Maestro Miguel and I spent a few hours with the artists there, watching them print.
I also made a portrait of Miguel.

Thank you to my new friends in Merida.

Photo: Mark Callaghan, Mayan Paper.

After Merida I made my way to Akumal.
This visit was very disappointing.

Under the sea is looking very sad.

Sounds like the person I wanted to see most was sent back to Guatamala.

My favorite dog is dead.

And then some.

One highlight included seeing artist Enrique Alcarez again and spending time with he and Victoria.
We shot some film together and I enjoyed the conversation very much.

In the studio of Enrique...do you see the gaffer's tape on the camera?

Photo: Enrique Alcarez.

May everyone be happy and healthy.

Peace to all!

Brillante.

Hoy he fotografia Fernando Castro Pacheco.

¡Hola amigas!

¡Buenos días!
¿Cómo estás?

The last few months have been fairly wild.

Countless hours in the darkroom pulling all-nighters.
Sleeping in all kinds of places (lovely and less so).

Somehow I got over twenty silver gelatin prints to those I made portraits of (that I printed).

Rid myself of most material things to free me up.

This feels fantastic...I miss nothing.

If you found boxes of silver gelatin or chromogenic prints in your alley
then I hope you like them (thank you to the Pilsen neighborhood).

Thank You: Roark, Sue, Nick, Mabel, John A, Mike, Jason, Wiktor,
Phil, John B, Amara, Stuart, Barb, Peggy, Aaron + more.

Just over one week ago myself + a few friends (including one abuelita!)
drove all the way from Chicago to Monterrey, Mexico.

Have been in many Mexican states in the last week.

In the last 24 hours I took a bus from DF and travelled through Puebla, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas.

Mexico is: for the people.

The street food here is so very good.

Enjoyed taking my clothes off in the middle of the day and swimming in a beautiful natural pool in El Salto- Zaragoza (NL), feeding a pig and some chicks by hand with walnuts and oranges from the trees in the yard (also in Zaragoza), spending time in Real de Catorce, hanging in a giant flea market in Cuidad de Mexico.

Have been shooting plenty...many landscapes, a few portraits, snapshots.
Some drawing (made my mark outdoors and indoors in DF-yes!).

My beautiful, beautiful camera fell from my tripod and onto a street made of stone in Real.

Two pieces of wood and one knob were broken.

Instead of bursting into tears (which were right around the corner) I kept my cool.

Then I went and made some of the best images I have probably ever shot.
The lens is good and the camera appears to be in fine working condition considering the circumstances.
I suppose I'll know if this is true when I develop the film.

Muchas Gracias: Edgar, Kristina, Daniel, David.

The mountains, the desert, the flowers, the birds, the dogs, the horses, the donkeys, the food, the sharing, the music, the efficient use of resources (including fresh food in most yards it seems).
What comes next I do not know...probably more beauty!

Hopefully I will soon see some of the best friends I have ever had and get to be in the sea.

Will continue exposing 4x5 film.
My spanish is improving swiftly.
I could use about half a day of sleep.
Greetings from San Cristobal de las Casas.
Looking forward...with love and a fairly huge smile.
¡Viva Mexico!

Tribes.

Have been looking through a few images and found this shot of Fisk.

This was made about a year and a half ago on a bike ride to my home at the time.

'Home' was across the street from that coal plant smokestack.

Pilsen neighborhood, Chicago.

New York City.

This evening I arrived into Penn Station around seven o'clock.

Then I made my way in the snow many blocks to Central Park.

The first couple that passed pointed me in the right direction for a long exposure.

As I made my way to the destination I found it to be very, very popular with photographers.

Perhaps I saw six in less than an hour...all of us making the same shot.

Tonight I checked my email to find a most lovely surprise.

It was the above image in a message.

That is me exposing one of four sheets of film.
You may also see my gear on a bench to the right.

Thank you to photographer Collin Erickson for this.

To those who have said Yes to me lately...

All my love from New York City.

Beauty.

Ayako Kato + Nejla Yasemin Yatkin.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Chicago.

Am enjoying riding in Chicago's cold winter weather.

Heard on the radio that some car motors are not turning in the below zero temperatures.

This morning I looked down at my rock hard thighs and they said they were ready.

Then I bundled up, picked up my bicycle and hit the road.

New York in a few days...