Plaza de la Catedral
Havana, Cuba
August 2013
From a balcony above the Plaza de la Catedral, we looked down and watched a transvestite dance with a newly wed bride still in her gown while her husband filmed her with his iPad.
Havana /
Old Havana
Havana, Cuba
August 2013
Not all cars in Havana are Cadillacs.
Che /
Plaza de la Revolución
Havana, Cuba
August 2013
Che’s image is a real and lasting symbol of strength and unity which we saw regularly in Cuba. I would be lying if I said I didn’t start to fall a little bit in love with him myself.
Malecon /
Malecón
Havana, Cuba
August 2013
The Malecón stretches for four miles along the coast of Havana, from the old town in the east to the Vedado neighborhood in the west. In the late afternoons the locals walk and socialize along the esplanade.
Playa del Carmen /
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
August 2013
It’s not easy to take a photo in Playa del Carmen which does not have about five hundred tourists in it. But here is one. Playa is like a smaller Cancun, which means everything feels very inauthentic if you go there after two weeks of traveling in less touristed parts of Mexico. Highly commercialized and developed, Playa features a long paved pedestrian mall lined with cafes, bars, shops and ATMs that allow you to withdraw US dollars. The beach clubs lining the sand offer shaded lounges for use if you purchase drinks and food. We took advantage of this, enjoying mojitos and hot chips and guacamole and beers, with live bands behind us playing covers of everything from Daft Punk to Steely Dan. By late afternoon, there were clear views of the empty beach as most people retired to their hotels to prepare for an evening of dancing in the massive night clubs surrounding the beach. This was my favorite part of the day, as we stayed as long as we could by the water, not wanting the time in the open air to end, knowing we were about to leave Mexico.
Xoxocotlán /
Xoxocotlán, Mexico
August 2013
Hot, hot, hot day. About 20 minutes by car outside of Oaxaca city is this small town called Xoxocotlán. We were fortunate that they were holding their weekly market when we visited, so we were able to see local men and women completing their weekly shopping.
Leopards /
San Cristobal de las Casas
Mexico
August 2013
Leopards!
Xochimilco /
Xochimilco, Mexico City
Mexico
August 2013
This was magical. We drank beer, we floated down the canal, we saw craftspeople selling blankets and clothes and plants and toys. For one hundred pesos we were serenaded by a mariachi band from their boat to ours. Mexico is magic.
San Juan Chamula /
San Juan Chamula, Mexico
August 2013
Some of the most interesting experiences that we had in Mexico could not be photographed. In San Juan Chamula, I had one of those moments. These pictures are not related to that moment.
Germantown /
Germantown, Philadelphia
September 2013
There was something about this third floor apartment in an old house in Germantown that was a little bit creepy. Maybe it was the tiny doors that lead between all the rooms. Maybe it was the costumes and skeleton mask stored in the space between two rooms. Maybe it was the huge dolls house or the painting of bodies on a boat. Whatever it was, we decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to sleep alone.
San Cristobal de las Casas /
Houses
San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico
August 2013
Some of the amazing colors of homes in this beautiful town in Chiapas.
Cooking /
Cooking class, Oaxaca
Mexico
August 2013
This cooking class was one of my favorite experiences in Mexico. First we bought all of the ingredients in a small local market, and then we took two cars to our chef’s home where we set up in her beautiful kitchen. We learnt to make tortilla soup, zucchini blossoms stuffed with oaxacan cheese, chiles en nogada and coconut flan. The atmosphere in the kitchen was lively and collaborative. We were all involved in helping prepare each dish; we diced fruit and vegetables, stuffed chiles, washed blossoms, peeled the skin off walnuts, and sliced fresh cheese. We all agreed it was one of the best meals we’ve ever played a part in preparing.
Mercado Democracia /
Mercado Democracia, Oaxaca, Mexico
August, 2013
The featherless chickens at the markets in Mexico are always bright yellow, like chickens in Looney Tunes cartoons. Their yellow legs and necks were poking up in the air on shelves in markets everywhere we went. We could not figure out why their skin was so yellow compared to chickens in Australia or the United States, so a couple of weeks into our trip, we asked our Mexican guide who was showing us around a market in San Cristobal. He said they are so yellow because they are raised on fresh Mexican corn and nothing else.
Among the other amazing things we saw in markets, were the bowls heaped high with fried, crispy brown grasshoppers. The flavor? Kind of bitter actually.
Xoxocotlán /
Xoxocotlán, Mexico
August 2013
Meat meat meat. Stacks of chichurron. Tenderized steaks. Strings of intestines. Hearts. Tongues. Heads.
Xoxocotlán /
Near Xochimilco, Mexico City
August 2013
This is a color palette of my dreams.
Fort Tryon Park /
Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
July 2013
In the height of summer, we went to the top of Manhattan to visit the cloisters of the Met. It must have been in the high 80s this day, and I remember I bought a soft serve ice cream and it started melting all over my hands faster than I could eat it.
Teotihuacan /
Teotihuacan, Mexico
August 2013
The pyramids at Teotihuacan have secrets inside them.
Inside the pyramids, there are smaller, older pyramids. To glorify their rulers, the Mesoamericans would rebuild pyramids over existing pyramids, sometimes up to six times.
To even build a single pyramid, is an amazing feat.
I like to imagine the pyramids inside pyramids inside pyramids, stacked over each other like Russian dolls.
Musicians /
Musicians, Mexico City
August 2013
At top, a beautiful green street in Colonia Condesa. Cafe diners are serenaded by a busker on guitar.
At bottom, a talented quartet are busking on the subway. The guitarist drew attention to us by speaking to us in English, then broke into song.
Cockteles /
Street vendors, Mexico City
August 2013
Mexican people are masterful at sign writing. And cooking. And living life. And being joyful and warm.
Subway /
Subway, New York
July 2013
This could have been at night, or maybe we were just inside a tunnel. I don’t recall taking this photo, but there it was when I developed the film. I wonder where I was going.