Welcome to La Antigua Guatemala's blogumentary through daily photographs and descriptive narratives of a Spanish Colonial Town embedded between coffee plantations, flower farms and volcanoes.
Welcome to La Antigua Guatemala’s blogumentary through daily photos and descriptive narratives of a Spanish Colonial Town embedded between coffee plantations, flower farms and volcanoes in the highlands of Northern Central America.
La Antigua Guatemala is painted with rich, bright colors so this could have been a simple click. However, I decided I was going to participate with a more challenging image; something that wasn’t so obvious but at the same time it there couldn’t be any doubt about its merits. After a visit to Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Guatemala’s five-star hotel and museum, I narrowed my selection to two images: a Guacamaya’s Bright Colours, which I posted yesterday and today’s bright red rose petals.
The reason I chose the close-up of bright red rose petals over the macaws brilliant colors is simple; The slogan for La Antigua Guatemala is the City of the Perpetual Roses.
This image is also going to be part of my Antigua Abstracta series, which is my attempt to capture the essence of La Antigua Guatemala by just showing fragments, extreme close-up, and abstract imagery often found around town. If you have the time, please take a peak at the images and let me know what you think of Antigua Abstracta.
“Chunches y Chunchitos” is what a call a creative Guatemalan name for a business. What do you think they sell inside and do you know what those words mean?
What kind of business do you think corresponds to El Cofre sign?
Like every first of the month, today is theme day for City Daily Photo community around the world and this month’s theme is Funny signs. El Cofre sign is not necessarily funny, let’s just call it not a serious sign.
Stucio C took part in the realization of visual effects for more than 350 shots for the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”. Studio C has also participated in the following films: The Ring 2, Armaggedon, Sphere, Space Jam and Angels in the Outfield, just to name a few.
Studio C has their headquarter offices in La Antigua Guatemala. Now, I guess we can also say, Movies-R-Us!
It looks like I am not the only one who enjoys photographing corners. Here I captured a fellow photographer who was photographing the opposite corner and this sun-powered clock.
In La Antigua Guatemala people really go the extra mile to show they care about each other. If one is creative, all one needs is a block of post-it notes and a pen.
Now the question for you, is Fer a man or a woman?
Feliz Día del Cariño y la Amistad (Happy Valentine’s Day) to everyone! Wish all of you lovely day!
Trust me, do no trust your nostalgic memories; they will mislead you.
Today’s sign of al Macarone is a very good example how the signage regulations of La Antigua Guatemala can actually improve a logo and brand graphics. Take a look at al Macarone original logo and compare it to the transformed logo appearing above. I really like the texture of the mothy logs.
Last month I shared with you La Antigua Guatemala Sign Ordinances. I will again post the information below to keep fresh. One thing I forgot to mention last month is the fact that only “ONE” sign is allowed per business or institution.
How many signs do you see in the picture above?
Here’s a little summary of what the PDF documents below describe at length:
Lineamientos para obtener Licencia de Rótulos
The sign can be any of this three dimensions 0.70m x 0.70m square, .50m x 1m rectangle and .25m x 2m rectangle. The sign can only include any two of the following materials: wood, metal, ceramic tiles, bronze and forged metal. Three is the maximum limit of colors that can be used; with a matte finish. The business sign can only have a logo and name of business and nothing more. The sign must be in Spanish and following the grammatical rules set forth by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española; text in other languages can be included as long as it’s set at a much lower size and must include at least French and English. The typography (font) should be roman typeface (up and lower case) and can not be a modern-looking font. Synthetic materials and glass are forbidden.
No advertising signs and/or billboards can be placed within 4 kilometers on the road coming from Guatemala City; anywhere on the roads between La Antigua Guatemala and Alotenango, Santa María de Jesús and San Luis las Carretas (road to Chimaltenango).
Here are the three PDF documents which are required to obtain a sign license:
Lineamientos para obtener Licencia de Rótulos — Sign License Requirements (PDF download at CNPAG)
Reglamento para la colocación de rótulos o letreros — Sign Placement Ordinance (PDF download at CNPAG)
Solicitud de Licencia de Rótulo — Sign License Application (PDF download at CNPAG)
The La Antigua Guatemala sign ordinances were enacted on March 23, 1973. All existing signs were given 12 months to comply with the new sign ordinances.
Guatemalan Film Trailers Aside: Once again, we continue showing trailers of Guatemalan films and short films. These trailers are for Un día de Sol, which was recently filmed Guatemala by Códice Cinema and directed by Rafael Tres. If you would like to see the photos behind the scenes and the making of, follow the white rabbit.
Algunas imágenes de la película Un día de Sol grabada en Guatemala en el 2009. Cast – Ana Lucia Martinez, Giuliana Vettorazzi, Alexandra Wever, Johann Boy, Sammy Morales, Amabilia Alvarez, Vera Mansilla y Tatiana Palomo. Película ha estrenarse a principios del 2010. —Rafael Tres
Some images from the film Un día de Sol, filmed in Guatemala in 2009. Cast: Ana Lucia Martinez, Giuliana Vettorazzi, Alexandra Wever, Johann Boy, Sammy Morales, Amabilia Alvarez, Vera Mansilla y Tatiana Palomo. Un día de Sol will be released in the first quarter of 2010. —Rafael Tres
Beautiful, simple and elegant sign made with six ceramic tiles. Now, I wish I knew what they do or sell at Alforja. Does anyone know what kind of shop is Alforja?
Geotagging photographs and maps aside: Some of you may have already noticed that there’s a map at the bottom of the most recent entries showing where the photo was taken. Also, there’s a new Antigua Maps page on the Main Menu where you will find a map with the 20 most recent geotagged photographs and their location. Below that map, there’s another map with the option to see at full screen with pins showing where the photographs were taken. Finaly, if you want to scan the location for well over 300 photographs at Flickr, just follow the white rabbit. That’s a lot map options for you. I hope you find this new feature valuable or at least interesting. I will try to include a map showing the location of the photos in all future entries, unless you tell me otherwise. Enjoy!
Perhaps the fact that I am a graphic designer is what causes me to stop and take pictures of signs in La Antigua Guatemala all the time. I can’t help it, I am addicted to collecting photos of signs.
A Journey Through Guatemala Join me as we discover its vast cultures, history, rich folklore, pristine nature, exquisite gastronomy, and its friendly people.
Antigua Virtual News and Buzz Antigua Guatemala’s latest web-buzz and news headlines at a glance in a single page from the most popular sites on the internet.