Shadow Shot 40 - Back on the 3rd Floor!!

Yes, I am still enjoying Christmas and New Year here in Costa Rica, so here are a couple of shadow shots of my apartment in Mexico City in my absence. Plant shadows on the red sofas...

and yet more plant shadows on the white ceramic floors...

Enjoy looking at more shadows from around the world by clicking here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Sepia Scenes of the City.........

I've recently been looking at some gorgeous sepia photographs of Mexico City from times gone by - the twenties, thirties and forties. It would have been cool to have lived here then.....

Don't you think the city still looks gorgeous in sepia?? All these shots were taken around and about the streets of Mexico City within the last fortnight?? Surprised?? This is the surreal city of magic realism remember whereby we live in different time zones simultaneously - a permanent time warp!! For other gorgeous glimpses from around the world click here for My World Tuesday. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot 39 - Up on the Roof

Last week we were down in the basement of my apartment building in the car park, so this week we are up on the roof. Welcome to the world of the cages up on the roof of Mexican apartment buildings where residents hang out their washing amidst gas tanks, pipes, and water cisterns...

For more fun with shadows check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here....Have fun!!

On the Trail of Luis Barragan......

Luis Barragan (1902 -1988) is Mexico's most important architect - a master of minimalist modernism. Now recognised for his genius with light, colour, and space, he was totally unacknowledged for most of his life, until a retrospective of his work at MOMA, New York in 1975, which led to him receiving the Pritzker Prize in 1980. His residence and studio built in 1947 in the colonia of Tacubaya is now a museum and UNESCO world heritage site, but I want to take you on a tour of one of his lesser known works - Casa Gilardi in San Miguel de Chapultepec, his final house built in 1975 - 1977....

Barragan was self-taught and self-trained and most well known for his tall coloured walls and planes of colour. He always used natural materials in natural contexts and blended interior spaces with the exterior. The tree in the patio space is a Jacaranda and the flowers in March are the same shade of purple as these walls...

The blossoms are left unswept to naturally complement these shades of purple and pink....

Fortunately the current owners, resident since 1995, have kept everything intact according to Barragan's original design, but they are under no obligation as this house is now an ordinary residence not protected in any way. The piece de la resistance of the design is the swimming pool room which is an amazing optical illusion of depth and colour achieved by such simplicity. It is forbidden to take photos in this space, so you will have to take a look at the wikipedia images which gives only the merest sense of its breathtaking beauty.
Casa Gilardi can be found at General Leon 82 and the Barragan house and studio at General Francisco Ramirez 12 - both by appointment only. To see the best of the rest of the world this week, click here for My World Tuesday postings. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 38 - Down underground

When you read this, I will be on my way to spend Christmas and New Year travelling around Costa Rica, but I have set up some posts in my absence; after all I cannot possibly miss Shadow Shot Sunday!! So this is what I have temporarily left behind - the rather ugly, underground concrete car park in my apartment building, which however is somewhat transformed by sunshine and stripey zebra shadows. For more shadows click here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Capturing the Colours of Cornets....

So this was the shot I chose in the end for my submission to our fortnightly photo competition amongst friends on the theme of colours: columns of cones. I like the soothing shades of these technicolour towers, and the fact that they are leaning in the style of pastel Pisas. I also like the fact that people thought they were all different things on first glance, from large ceramic pots to corn, because the scale is not obvious. I will let you know what place I received with this shot, and the next theme is dark which will be somewhat challenging....

What do you think??

Capturing the Colours of...........

Aztec Finery...

A small group of friends are currently participating in a little low-key photo competition with six rounds and a different theme every fortnight. This week's theme is colours, and as you can imagine here in Mexico, I was spoilt for choice. All these photos were taken last weekend in various locations of Mexico City from Chapultepec Park to the Art Market to San Angel...

Snacks....
















Toys...


















Fruit...




















Candy....

















Chillis...


















Hardware....
















Basketry....








As you can see it was a hard choice as I am surrounded by colour every minute of the day!! Which shot would you have selected?? I will post my choice on Wednesday - in the meantime check out the best from around the world by clicking here for My World Tuesday........

Shadow Shot Sunday 37 - At home in the Red Room with Cildo Meireles....

My shadow shots this week are all of the wonderful art installation by Brazilian conceptual artist, Cildo Meireles, currently showing at the MUAC Gallery here in Mexico City. He calls it "Desvio para o vermelho" ; for me it is simply "The Red Room"....

And yes every single piece of furniture, painting, item of clothing, ornament and implement is a glorious shade of red...

Here is an overview of the entire installation, which totally by chance I happened to be visiting wearing a red top, red scarf, red shoes, carrying a red camera, red ipod, and guia roja - cameras were clicking in my direction as I was clearly mistaken for a moving part of the Installation!!



















Why did I feel so at ease and so at home here?? Simple! My own apartment here in Mexico City has been dubbed "El Palacio Rojo" for its preponderence of all things red. Here is a close up of plant shadows on my pair of scarlet sofas - the culprits that began it all!!

For more fun with shadows click here for Shadow Shot Sunday and this post is dedicated to fellow shadowhunter Sylvia with her well known love of coloured glass shadows....Enjoy!!

The Magic of Markets - Nicaragua

Markets are the key to the soul of any culture, and Nicaragua is no exception. Each place seems to have its own special way of displaying and selling its wares, and wandering through the markets in Granada, it soon became obvious that in Nicaragua the modus operandi is opening up displays in huge baskets and sacks, or hanging goods from tiny plastic bags; neither of which have I really seen here in Mexico. Just admire these beautiful baskets.....

And all these open sacks and diverse hanging arrangements...



















It was a sheer delight to stroll between the stalls, chatting to the stallholders finding out their stories whilst browsing the goods on offer... The delightful old gentleman above had been running his dry goods stall in Granada market for forty years in the same place of course...

And don't you just love the beautiful designer arrangements of all these plastic pots and containers?? Truly a piece of unique Art!!

What and where are some of your favourite market displays???

Mexico's love affair with the Guinness Book of Records..

Mexico City is currently putting the finishing touches to setting up the world's tallest Christmas tree; a contender for the Guinness Book of Records. Here it is towering over the main street, Reforma, rivalling the city skyscrapers of the Stock exchange and the Financial District, thus holding its own with the tallest buildings in the city....

Mexico is no stranger to the Guinness Book of Records; indeed it is something of a national obsession as we currently hold the record for the highest number of attempts to get into the Guinness Book of Records. From cooking up the largest meatball, to the highest number dancing "Thriller", to the World's Largest Christmas Tree, we go for anything going!! What does that say about a culture and country, I wonder?? Feliz Navidad!!

For more windows on the world, click here for My World Tuesday posts. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 36 - Mexico City

Sculptures always seem to be an excellent source of shadow shots especially when the sun is shining brightly and the shadows are crisp and sharp...

This sculpture by Mexican artist Gurria is on permanent display outside the entrance to the Museum of Modern Art on Reforma here in Mexico City. It is entitled Rio Papatlan, and it is easy to see how the great coils and sweeps of black metal are supposed to embody the swirling currents of this Mexican river.

For more fun with shadows click here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!

The Grandeur of Granada - Nicaragua

Founded in the 1520s, Granada is a real Colonial gem in Nicaragua. If you take the plunge and visit, you will have this beautiful place pretty much all to yourself with all its plazas, porticos, and colonnades...

People are welcoming and friendly, and the whole place has a very intimate small town feel, somewhat dwarfed and daunted by the grandeur and scale of such elegant architecture...

There are numerous beautiful churches, chapels, and a stunning cathedral. Brightly coloured colonial streets and alleys head off in every direction, and who can resist all these gorgeous doors and windows...

Granada is a very accessible 45 minute cab ride from Managua Airport, and provides a great base for a week or so, as there are some great day trips that can be taken from here, such as the volcanoes at Masaya and Mombacho, as well as the pueblos blancos, and the markets at Masaya. There are enough bars, cafes, and restaurants to sustain a week's stay, and a great hotel for accomodation is the Casa San Francisco. At 65USD for a double room it is great value, and Octavio the chef cooks up wonderful food every night. Check it out at www.casasanfrancisco.com and for more My World Tuesday postings click here...

Shadow Shot Sunday 35 - Rio Nazas

Just a grimy little black window on a bright blue wall around the corner from where I live, but I like the colour contrast as well as all the geometric angles and shapes cast by the shadow. For more shadows cast around the world check out Shadow Shot Sunday by clicking here....

Mexico City Hotspots - Hosteria La Bota

I adore Mexican folk art and kitsch, so you can imagine my unadulterated sheer joy and delight when I stumbled, purely by chance, across this humble watering hole last weekend in the heart of the Centro Historico. Can you spot the barman amongst all these objets d'art adorning every surface of bar, walls, and ceiling??

After the initial sense of being overwhelmed, you manage to get your eye in, and then you can spot all kinds of antique treasures from bicycles, chairs and gas rings, to bulls' heads, lucha libre masks and skulls. Next you zoom in on the boxing gloves, frying pans, pinatas, masks, tin trays, bottles, and an entire array of Joseph Cornell - style boxes...

I stopped by for a glass of wine whilst I was wandering about by myself, and the atmosphere was perfectly friendly, chilled and laid back ...

You can see why I felt so at home when I show you a couple of corners of my own apartment here in Mexico City, dubbed"The Red Palace", which are very quickly developing into Mexican kitsch corners...

Here are my latest acquisitions - a pair of demented and deranged papier mache Lucha Libre wrestlers. One has his pants on fire, and the other has a skull emblazoned on his lunch box - Don't you just love them??

Hosteria La Bota is located on Calle Regina between Bolivar and 5 de Febrero amidst a number of other funky, quirky bars and cafes. Watch out for further postings on this very interesting street....