AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

The Santa Clara ruins is among the most popular wedding destination venues. And even if folks don’t decide to celebrate inside Santa Clara, the ruins are used almost every weekend as a backdrop for wedding photo sessions. Photographer who are interested in weddings find the Santa Clara ruins very appealing and photogenic. If you want to find shelter from all the processions during Holy Week, I recommend this garden inside the Santa Clara ruins, just a few steps from the Tanque de la Unión.

The last meeting of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua was quite a blast with some very interesting guests like Iván Castro, James Rodríguez and Diego Colombi.

First, my good friend Iván Castro, founding member of FlickrGuatemala, decided to pay us a visit to see what’s exactly happening at the photo club. Check out Iván’s most recent photos of Lake Atitlán to see how a bacteria is killing the most beautiful lake in the world.

Next, James Rodríguez from MiMundo.org, came to talk about his photography, his world and tell us anecdotes from this photo-taking process in the remote villages of Guatemala. Check out James’ amazing photojournalistic work!

Last, but not least, Diego Colombi, a Guatemalan filmmaker, based out of Savannah, Georgia, who recently directed and produced A’plas; the story of Father Stanley Rother. A’plas is already bringing home the accolades. I promise I will do a review of A’plas as soon as Diego puts it online. I have already seen A’plas, but I want to share the documentary with you.

The Club Fotográfico de Antigua is becoming a wonderful hot spot for photography and art lovers in La Antigua Guatemala. See the benefits of gardening at night.

This year the first official rain of 2009 was reported on April 24 with a photograph of a woman with a green umbrella walking in front of a orange wall. Somehow I remember clearly the scene and the circumstances of that image.

Today, I bring you another photo of rainfall taken inside El Jaulón building, located one block away from Central Park. Today’s photograph, however, marks the last rains of the season, the driest rainy season since we are living in La Antigua Guatemala. Interesting enough, normally there are almost no rains in November, but thus far almost everyday we have had precipitations.

Invitation for the first expo of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua

Also, don’t forget that the first exhibit of the Antigua Photo Club will be this Friday evening at Las Capuchinas ruins. If you’re in town, don’t miss this rare opportunity to purchase high quality prints of the captivating images from the photo club members, including of course, photographs from yours truly, at discounted prices. All funds raised will be donated to a charity.

I can remember everything about this Antigua moment except exactly where it is. All the recent discussion about water reminded me of this place.

We had been following Holy Week Processions, walking for hours or pressed into dense crowds standing under the mid-day sun inhaling dust from parched roads and the time worn pavements. Our heads were throbbing from the heady mixture of heat, sound and an intense alchemy of perfumes rising from the street—pine needles, flowery corozo palms, fruit, sawdust, and of course incense—now forever linked in my mind, with the colour purple. Tired and our senses over-stimulated by the days intensity we stepped through a doorway and into this —an Oasis of coolness and calm. It was like plunging into a deep pool of liquid shadow, and we immediately inhaled its green watery atmosphere with a deep intake of breath. A little bird had also found its way here, drinking and splashing in the fountain with evident delight, creating a perfect image of that moment.

text and photo by Michele Woodey.

The Panchoy Valley, where La Antigua Guatemala is located, used to be a lake at the time the Conquistadores arrived and when they founded the second Santiago de Guatemala in the Almolonga Valley, now Ciudad Vieja which is about two miles from Antigua. Then the Panchoy Lake basin was fed by the Pensativo River. The Panchoy Lake was filled with packed soil and stones as the third Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala was founded in 1541 and the city began to grow. The last remains of the Pensativo River can still be observed today along the Calle Chipilapa during the rainy season.

Also, both Panchoy and Almolonga valleys are surrounded by three volcanoes and mountain ranges which served as funnels during the rainy season collecting tremendous amounts of water; much more than can be consumed by all the trees and plants on the hills around La Antigua Guatemala, which by the way, remain evergreen year round.

These are some of the reasons why there’s an abundant supply of water in and around La Antigua Guatemala. This ample source, fuente in Spanish, of water can also help explain why there are thousands of fountains, fuentes in Spanish, and búcaros, half fountains embedded on walls, in and around La Antigua Guatemala. It seems like every restaurant has at least one fountain, even the fast food restaurants. You should browse the Fountains and Gardens category to see over 35 samples taken over the three years of existence and 1215 entries of AntiguaDailyPhoto. I hope you enjoy the fountain tour through time.

What an interesting combination of colors and light temperatures can be achieved during the twilight zone in La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park. Oh I can hear the intro and fade music of the twilight zone but it’s being played with a marimba and decorated with chirimilla accents and pre-Columbian drum beats; now this music really ads a mysterious mysticism to the twilight zone. Don’t you think so?

Many times, when foreigners are looking at listings for houses or apartments for rent or sale in La Antigua Guatemala, they come across the word búcaro; which is a full stop and they simply roll their eyes. Their online live Spanish tutor did not prepare them for obscure and archaic architectonic terms; at this moment they pull out their cuaderno (notebook) and add the word to the list of things to ask the Spanish tutor in the next session.

Well, if you can not wait until your next Spanish-language class, let me tell you that a búcaro is half fountain normally embedded in a wall, normally near an inside patio, but it can be anywhere. You know, I am thinking that since búcaros can be found at just about all the restaurants and bars in La Antigua Guatemala, I might as well add búcaros to my list of things to photograph and publish as a series. Certainly, you remember the búcaro inside the Burger King restaurant, back in April 10th, 2007, right? If not, go check it out and might as well check out a garden búcaro through a fish tank.

Now, what other búcaros do you guys recommend for the upcoming búcaro series?

To answer MO’s questions: There are four identical mermaids (sirenas in Spanish), give or take the normal wear. These are not the original mermaids designed by Arquitecto Mayor Diego de Porres in 1738-1739; these are new replicas. You can find the original mermaids inside the Museo de Armas (Old Weapons Museum) right across Central Park, on the north side.

You can click the picture below to see the mermaids as they stand inside la Fuente (llamada de las sirenas) de la Plaza Mayor or Fountain (called of the sirens) at the Main Square.

September has been one of the rainiest month thus far, but you would not know it by looking at the recent daily photos, right? Well, around Guatemala’s Independence Day on September 15th, we were lucky to have a few dry days or with very little rain. Today’s capture was taken at the heart of La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park: The Mermaids Fountain (La fuente de las sirenas). I was lucky to see that I could catch the weather conditions through the sunshine reflected on the running water of the fountain; don’t you think?

If you’re missing a little sunshine in your life, like we are know, you can always download the image above and use it as desktop wallpaper (available up to 1200×900).

By this coming weekend, the area around this fountain will be so crowded that you won’t be able to see the fountain. You can browse the archives for 2006 and 2007 to find out why there will be so many people around La Antigua Guatemala’s Central Park.

I hope you enjoy the trip back to the past!