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I have mentioned it a few times, but let me repeat it again. There’s are aesthetic principles which are used and apply to design and architecture to make then look and fit harmoniously and coherently into the Antigua Guatemala enchanting environment. Take this water tank and washbasins for instance, which I am not sure it’s an original piece or if it was built to look old and worn. This is what I call the antigüeño aesthetic values: colonial styles and designs, built to look worn, old and even abandoned; normally with part of the plaster removed as to show the guts. Sometimes, they even give new uses to objects, like in the picture above where the water tank and washbasins are used as decorative fountain. Other examples that I’ve seen are colonial style cooking pot used for a regular plant pot, a door or window turned into a coffee table, an old carriage wheels used as decorative elements, et cetera.

Other recent examples of the antigüeño aesthetic values:

• Garden Wall at Sabe Rico
• Rustic brick wall
• New houses that look old
• Old and rusted metal wheels

It’s nice to see colonial pilas and lavaderos (water tanks + washbasins) being used now as fountains and as decoration. If you want to see a pila as decoration follow the white rabbit to The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration. If you want to see colonial pila being used as a fountain check out Finca Washbasins and Water Tanks. Of course, you can simply come back tomorrow to see the entire water tank and washbasins of this fountain.

Oftentimes we do things driven by the unconscious mind and that’s why is very difficult to have the coherent answers for them. In photography as in art, the unconscious mind manifests itself often through imagery we only have vague feelings about; gut feelings really.

Unconscious
George Bernard Shaw wrote that the “unconscious self is the real genius. Your breathing goes wrong the moment your conscious self meddles with it.” In this maxim, Shaw articulated the rationale behind the use of the word unconscious to describe, in basketball, a player whose every shot seems miraculously to go into the basket. (source: Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus)

The unconscious mind, which in Freud’s opinion is a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of psychological repression. However, the contents do not necessarily have to be solely negative. In the psychoanalytic view, the unconscious is a force that can only be recognized by its effects—it expresses itself in the symptom. Unconscious thoughts are not directly accessible to ordinary introspection, but are supposed to be capable of being “tapped” and “interpreted” by special methods and techniques such as meditation, random association, dream analysis, and verbal slips (commonly known as a Freudian slip), examined and conducted during psychoanalysis. Carl Jung developed the concept further. He divided the unconscious into two parts: the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is a reservoir of material that was once conscious but has been forgotten or suppressed. (source: Wikipedia)

A couple of weeks ago as I checked in at the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) with Foursquare, I mentioned that everyone was missing the relaxing murmur of the Mermaids fountain. At the time I made the commentary in Foursquare and Facebook I didn’t know that the water pump was broken. Luckily, Elizabeth Bell from Antigua Tours read the Foursquare comment in Facebook and shared that the reason was that the water pump was broken. A few days after that, I happened to walk by the Mermaids fountain when they were repairing the pump. I quickly pulled my omnipresent camera to take a few shots and document what I saw. These are some of the photos I took.

One thing I really love about photography is the fact that only through the camera I get a chance to REALLY observe my surroundings and the day-to-day stuff that otherwise would go unnoticed. I have must’ve published at least a dozen photos about the Mermaids fountain and this was the first time I noticed where the pump was and the electrical wiring that controls it.

This is wider view of the patio (courtyard really), garden and fountain shown in Skyping from the Garden published last month. As mentioned before, patios, garden and fountains are architectonic elements often in the typical Casa Antigüeña. By the way, if you want to look and learn about all the different elements often found in the Spanish colonial architecture from Antigua Guatemala, follow the white rabbit to the Casa Antigüeña series.

Esta es una vista más abierta del patio, jardín y fuente que aparecieron en Skyping from the Garden publicado el mes pasado. Como lo hemos mencionado antes, patios, jardines y fuentes son elementos arquitectónicos encontrados con frecuencia en la típica Casa Antigüeña. Por cierto, si quieren ver y aprender sobre los diferentes elementos encontrados en la arquitectura colonial española de La Antigua Guatemala, sigan la liebre hacia la serie Casa Antigüeña.

This fountain is located on the parallel path of Alameda El Calvario. At sunset you can find teenagers and students having atol or just talking and hanging out. I believe this fountain would be a great location to take the fantasma photos some of you having requesting for a while now. Let’s hope we can take some portrait photos of La Llorona or La Siguanaba at this fountain one this nights. I will be on the look out, I promise.

Esta fuente está ubicada en el espacio paralelo a Alameda El Calvario. Después del crepúsculo uno puede encontrar adolescentes y estudiantes tomando el atol o simplemente platicando. Considero que esta ubicación es el lugar perfecto para tomar las fotos de fantasmas que muchos aún siguen pidiendo. Esperemos que pronto podamos retratar a La Llorona o La Siguanaba en esta fuente alguna de estas noches. Estaremos atentos, lo prometemos.

This is not the first time I shared with you a photograph of fountain adorned with flowers. As a matter of fact, this is quite a regular vista around La Antigua Guatemala.

Right now is especially necessary to be near a refreshing fountain since we’re experiencing unusually hot weather conditions. Yesterday, the thermometer reached the 30C/86F degrees mark in the shade and today looks like it is going to be the same. Come on, this sort of thing should not happen at over 1,500 meters/5,000 feet over the sea level.

Follow the white rabbit to look at other photographs of fountains with flowers.

• Flowers and Fountains
• Light is a good reason to visit Antigua
• Exotic Flower Arrangements
• Mermaids Fountain with Flowers
• Exotic flowers and plants for you!

Antigua Guatemala as a City Brand Aside: Today La Antigua will be presented as a City Brand at 5 p.m. with an event full of activities in front of Palacio de los Capitanes at Central Park. Also, there will be a 15-minute photographic presentation with nearly 250 photos from AntiguaDailyPhoto.com projected over a giant screen hanging from Palacio de los Capitanes as part of the event. Everyone is invited!

Come back tomorrow to see the slide show here and other photos taken at the activities. If I get a chance I will try to make a time-lapse video of the event. Stay tune!

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Like many fountain’s around Antigua Guatemala, there is always something very soothing about them (oh, and the light was just beautiful), but how many of us do pay attention to them? If you do, can you guess where is this fountain located? I hope this is a tough guess for you.

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

Three simple shots of fountains found inside the patios of Casa Santo Domingo. In the picture above I decided to freeze the water in mid air to show the distinct drops. In the pictures below I went to opposite way and smooth the flow of water to show its movement. I played with running water without getting wet.

Mi Aldea Lancetillo Photo Exhibit Aside: Four members of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua went to Lancetillo to teach teen agers how to use cameras and photograph their reality.

Celebrate the vision of young Guatemala featuring the work of Project Einstein participants. Through six weeks of intensive training in the Zona Reyna, over 70 Q’eqchi’ Maya youth learned the basics of the photography, video and new media to tell the stories of their community, the flyer invitation reads.

The young photographers work is compiled and synthesized in the Mi aldea Lancetillo photo exhibit, which will open tomorrow at 6pm in Convento de Santa Clara, right across from Tanque de La Unión.

The Photo Exhibition will be open until September 17, 2010.

If you’re in Guatemala and can spare an hour, stop by the opening night and meet a few of the kids and members of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua who supported this photo exhibit through donations and logistics.

I share with you one the slide shows they did with the photographs taken by the Guatemalan youths. You can watch the other videos at the special page created by HablaGuate as well read all the background information. Also, you can read the name of all the people and sponsors at the Lancetillo web page. Flyer and video are a courtesy of HablaGuate.

Don’t ask me, but how did the venerable utilitarian pila (water tank) and lavadero (washbasin) became decorations elements or design accents?

In The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration I introduced you to the washbasins and water tank inside McCafé in La Antigua Guatemala with the following words:

What’s a pila (pee-lah), I hear you ask? simple, the omnipresent pila guatemalteca is basically a water tank and one or two sinks or washbasins for doing dishes and washing the clothes. You have seen a colonial-styled pila before as part of La Casa Antigüeña series and you have also recently seen the public washbasins. So you now know how pilas are basically smaller versions of the public washbasins and water tanks, right?

I bet you never thought a colonial utilitarian washbasin and water tank could be used as decoration for a upscale, hi-tech wireless internet, coffee shop. I think it works and it does especially well, since the water is running all the time between the main two water compartments and adds a wonderful relaxing sound.

In Water Tanks and Colonial Style Social Networks I mentioned that “as in colonial times, these public water tanks and washbasins serve as the places for doing the laundry and for water distribution. Furthermore, public laundry washbasins (sometimes rivers or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter; computers are not required. In many places in Guatemala this stills holds true.”

In Colonial Washbasins from Guatemala I showed you how the washbasins and water tanks are often the central piece to decorate an inside patio in colonial homes.

Today’s entry showcases the pila and lavaderos right next to Cafetenango restaurant inside Finca Filadelfia. Looking at main photo above I am thinking I should have captured a video clip a few seconds of the running water and resulting sound. I have to keep a thread around my finger to remember to capture more videos, as my dear friend Kara Andrade has rightly recommended to me. Oops, sorry!

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Here’s an interesting idea, cover the patio with transparent laminas plus a pergola framework where one can hang the Colas de Quetzal (nephorlepsis spp.), helechos (ferns) and put other plants in pots around the fountain and one can enjoy of the patio year round, including during the rainy season.

How you like that?

Besides signs, I also have a fascination for fountains. I am glad in La Antigua Guatemala there is an abundance of both.

Can you guess where is this fountain located?

I wonder how many fountains there are in La Antigua Guatemala. Everywhere I go, even in fast food restaurants, there is at least one fountain. Take a tour through the Fountains and Gardens category to see how many I have shared with you already.

What better way to enjoy a Sunday morning than to bring a freshly brewed cup of the best coffee in the world from Antigua Guatemala and a couple of newspapers to seat and read by the fountain in the patio. Beautiful weather, peaceful ambience, great coffee, what else can you ask for a Sunday newspaper reading morning. Life is good!

I like to photograph old people. I like to photograph young people. I like to photograph people, regardless of their age, really. I like to photograph people bonding. I like to photograph members of a family interacting, being kind to one another. That’s what life is all about.

Please, help me come up with possible things Ixchel would show to her little brother, Chepito. The most creative comment wins a post card!

Looking for Palladin Aside: In May, it will be the official showing of Looking for Palladin; a mayor movie filmed in La Antigua Guatemala and other parts of Guatemala.

Arrogant Hollywood talent agent, Josh Ross (David Moscow, is sent to Guatemala to find two-time Oscar winner actor Jack Palladin (Ben Gazzara). Although they’d never met, the search is emotionally complicated as the long-time retired star was once married to Josh’s late mother. The young agent’s contempt for the ‘old’ actor mirrors his comedic distaste for the local community, whose help he desperately needs to find him. What Josh hopes will be a quick and lucrative deal turns into a soul-searching journey. The retired star and his estranged stepson must confront the past they had forsaken (source: Looking For Palladin)