AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

Since Rudy is such a fan of framing I thought I would toss in a few framed shots of my own. Has “arches framed with arches” been done? Rudy’s post Stairway to Heaven actually managed the feat though he failed to mention it. But, this photo from Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua frames two full arches and two partial arches within one closer arch. Geez, how many times can you say arch in a sentence? Anyway, shall a competition commence Rudy? Can you beat the number of arches I framed within another arch? I imagine he’ll have a photo topping mine up in no time…

text and photo by Laura McNamara

Same as yesterday’s photo, we repeat the repetition theme, but even more so today. Can you tell me what elements repeat in the photograph above? Some are very obvious but other not so much, can you name all the different repetitions? And for a bonus, can you share with us the name of this landmark building that is undergoing restoration right now?

This is crap!

The four basic principles of graphic design are: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. It was Robin Williams, the graphic designer and teacher, who came up with the memorable acronym to help people remember these basic principles.

I believe this photo embodies the basic principles of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity (crap); don’t you agree?

Sometimes in your way to work, you just have to stop, take a deep breath and sip from your cup of coffee from La Antigua Guatemala and enjoy the scenery around el Tanque de la Unión. Sometimes you just have to take all the wonderful light and color on the dry season in La Antigua Guatemala.

Wouldn’t you?

PHOTO DELIVERY UPDATE: If you order is in by next Tuesday night (Dec. 16), you can still receive your photos by December 24th.

If you have been following La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo (LAGDP) for at least a year, you would know that the patron’s day celebrations fall on 25th of July for La Antigua Guatemala, also known as Santiago de Guatemala (Saint James of Guatemala), short for its original name La Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for, go read last year’s gigantic entry on Saint James Celebration, Santiago de Guatemala and the zillion variations on Santiago/James name in the different languages and time periods.

Now, in the picture above, there are two flags waving over the Municipalidad (City Hall) building, can you find the background information on each flag in the archives of LAGDP; I will send the Tecolotes photo as a post card to the first person that comes with both answers. Let the games begin!

An interesting find in La Antigua Guatemala, a town full of arches at every turn; but how often one comes across an arched door and doorway in arched building?

After more than 30 arches photographed in LAGDP, I ask: what are your feelings about arches, anyway/anyhow?

Photography 101: capture repetition. Well, photographing repetition is not difficult in La Antigua Guatemala; quite the opposite. This is a simple image of repeated arches and beam horizontal lines, I know, but thought you might enjoy it.

To me, the misaligned chair in front of the lonely desk provokes the feeling of person who just got up and went quickly somewhere; I don’t know, perhaps I am reading more than what really is there.

What kind of sensations does the image produces in you, if any?

Well, you may be wondering what SAT office means. Behind this placid view of this government building hides one of the reason why Guatemala is so poor; a beggar really if we consider that Guatemala begs money for road repairing, road building, new modern national identification card, fertilizers, schools, libraries and the list goes on and on. The picture above is the local office of the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria, SAT for short and the equivalent of the IRS.

The SAT is in charge of collecting the taxes and to funnel this money to fund all the government needs. The SAT does such a poor job at collecting taxes and thus the government is not autarkic and needs to beg for international funds. The reasons the SAT does a poor job at funding the government are complex and it would require huge and extensive entries to cover them. Suffice it to say that most Guatemalan earn their money in the informal economy, which does not pay income taxes, like town market vendors, street vendors, convenience stores, et-cetera. Then, we have the many small businesses who do not hand out facturas (invoices) for which they are charging sales tax, yet not passing this collected tax money to the SAT. Finally, we have the big businesses and wealthy Guatemalans who have very creative accounting departments to do every imaginable thing to withhold the taxes due on their accumulated fortunes; how fortunate for them! In the mean time, it is mostly the salaried workers, the independent service providers and the honest businesses who transfer the collected sales taxes and income taxes to the SAT. As you can see, tax evasion is a huge problem in Guatemala. I don’t have with me actual figures, but I am sure that less than 20% of the population pay their income taxes.

Perhaps Edgar or Mauricio can provide the actual figures and even expand on or clarify the subject.

Even fast-food restaurant have exquisite architectonic details to make them be in harmony with the colonial architecture of La Antigua Guatemala. Maybe you remember the fountain inside the Burger King’s restaurant shown here back in April 10th.

Don’t let anybody, including me, take away the pleasure of visiting this fast-food restaurants, if your conscience/soul/principles/memories/nostalgia/health allows for it. I promise you I am NOT, by any means, the exorcist! I AM, however, the native informant.

Here is another shot taken at the Municipalidad de Jocotenango (city hall) which shows its yellow façade and abundance of arches. Jocotenango was the community where workers and artisans (indians) lived in colonial times. Nowadays, Jocotenango still provides residence to many of the workers of La Antigua Guatemala.

Does anyone care to tell us a little more about Jocotenango?

I am glad El Calvario Church provides a nice transition from the white cemetery series back to the rich antigüeño color palette while maintaining the death theme going on. El Calvario or Calvary (Golgotha) is the name of the mount on the outskirts of Jerusalem where it’s believe Jesus Christ was crucified. This church with its three arches provides a symbolic representation of the crucifixion; with each arch representing each cross.

As I have explained before, the natural lime-stone based paints have a transparent shine, similar to pearls, which reflect some incredible colors as the different temperature of light is bounced back from the walls. This effect was very obvious the day I took these shots. In less than five minutes, the time I was there, the yellow wall went from a pale yellow to a gorgeous orange-yellow as the clouds moved in and out to let the late afternoon sunshine hit the wall. I wish you were here to witness such a spectacular color show.

The first time I published the arches reflected on the water tank at Tanque de la Unión Park in La Antigua Guatemala, there were many people who really liked the photo. There were even some Guatemalans who said the reflection was done in Photoshop. Now you can take the statement either way: you can feel proud to know that you’ve snapped a shot that people think you spent many hours in the digital lab of Photoshop or you can take it as a put down on your photo-taking ability. I am glad I am very competent in the Photoshop department, heck I could even argue that I excel in the skills of Photoshop since I started working in version 2 and I use the program in a daily basis.

However, I must admit, photos I publish in Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo are Photoshop-free. I do minor color-casting removal and I improve the contrast when needed in Apple iPhoto (my light photo library manager). I do not retouch the photos in Photoshop for two reasons: 1. I don’t have the time to do retouching (sometimes I barely have time to keep up with that blog as it is) 2. I cheat by taking many shots of the same subject at different angles and settings so I will have a better original to begin with (this is a time-honor procedure called bracketing).

So there you have it. Another water reflection at Tanque de La Unión. Other shots of the arches are: Palm Trees in Antigua and Public Washbasins at Tanque de la Unión.

As soon as you enter the doorway to Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua you are presented with this winding stairway that takes you to heaven, or at least to second floor . Back when I did the doorways series, Marie Mcc asked where do the open doors take you to? Well, the open doors take you to a zaguán, or hallway, which in the old days was used as a waiting area for workers or servants and their animals. Nowdays, they are spaces to have plants and flowers or to park your car, or both since they quite large.

Back on July 9th I told you that Guatemala sells light and color when I showed you an open door that leads to a garden at Posada del Ángel. I still believe sunshine is one the best reasons to visit Antigua, but not the only one. As you can see on this photo, you can have access to beautiful fountains, gardens, and architectonic delicacies. This scene belongs to another house turned into a Bed-n-Breakfast hotel. In the next few days I will bring to you other details from this wonderful place called Hotel Centro Colonial Antigua which is only a half of block away from Parque Central.