Sunday, April 20, 2014

Los Extranjeros

This candid portrait, street photography really, has stuck with me since the moment this lovely woman of a certain age walked out of her hostel in Antigua, Guatemala. The fortuitous background shadow sets up her sunlit visage perfectly.


Below are our subject and her angular mate engaged in conversation during a pit stop on our way to Lago Atitlan.  The couple, like so many others that I encountered in Guatemala, were on their way to work among the poor of the country, in this case the Mayas.  It seemed that every adult extranjero (foreigner) in Guatemala was providing aid of some kind. One nurse, a part time resident with another home in Alaska, had just assisted in more than a hundred eye surgeries.  Another was building schools for Mayan girls who traditionally are not allowed an education. Only the first born males go to school. And yet another was installing water treatment systems. Potable water is in short supply. The needs are acute despite Guatemala being the richest country in Central America in terms of natural resources.
 
 
Don't forget to click on the link to the actual blog page rather than rely on the email presentation. Then, when on the real blog, click on the first image so that you can see it and all that follow full size.
 

 

6 comments:

John Farnsworth said...

Right on the monet, Steve. You are good at this.

John Farnsworth said...

Hmmm, next week I will learn to spell. Or type. Or proofread.

Steve Immel said...

Money. Monet. I'll some of each.

Daryl A. Black said...

A great moment and smile, perfectly captured, Steve.

Was unable to enlarge the bottom photograph for some odd reason. Ah, the mysteries of technology.

Steve Immel said...

Me too, Daryl. I've never had that problem.

Steve Immel said...

Fixed it by deleting second images then adding the same one under a different name.