Nicaragua is a country particularly well suited to street photography. Everything of interest and importance happens on the street. Whilst snapping this collection in the markets and plazas of Granada, I was faced with many challenges of method and ethics. Ultimately, however, I found the subject too vivid and interesting to leave undocumented.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Granada’s old hospital stands in a state of abject destitution, broken and dilapidated after many years of neglect. Located on the west side of the city, close to the Masaya highway, this haunting ruin – replete with teeming visceral textures, intriguing shadows and frames – is a free gift to photographers and urban explorers.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The somnambulant village of La Boquita is awakening. A rotund and loosely dressed woman emerges from a ramshackle cluster of decrepit shacks and lurching, half-fallen structures. Gnarled branches, thatched palm leaves and weathered, colourful sheets are the simple materials of her family home.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Mexico’s Copper Canyon is a land of expansive vistas, crumbling mule trails and endlessly convoluted mountain scenery. Comprised of six monumental canyons and a labyrinthine network of some 200 gorges, you can’t do much better for sheer size, scope and geological grandeur. These images were snapped at various locations: the mountain-town of Creel, the look-out of Divisadero, the rocky road to Batopilas and others.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The state of Guerrero, central Mexico, is punctuated by miles and miles of incandescent coastline. Home to the quintessential pleasure resort of Acapulco, it is one of Mexico’s most touristic states, and yet it is also one of its poorest. Rugged topography means many parts of the region are secluded from the outside world. These images were snapped between two of the region’s best known tourist attractions: Acapulco and Taxco.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mexico’s north is a lesser visited land of sprawling cattle ranches and endless expansive vistas. Tempered by harsh deserts and mountains, el Norte has always been a wild and uncompromising destination, as well as an historic bastion of political resistance. These images were snapped at various locations: Chihuahua City, the Copper Canyon, Hidalgo del Parral, Alamos and others.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Nicaragua’s northern highlands are a bastion of rustic beauty. The rolling hills conceal pockets of lost in time villages, where the soil and houses blend into a single, earthy, red-brown palette. These photos were snapped at various locations: Matagalpa, Estelí, Jinotega and the Reserva Miraflor.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Nicaragua’s most popular tourist haunt, Granada, is a bastion of old money and conservatism. Replete with grand Spanish architecture, thronging plazas and thundering horse-drawn carriages, this is a city that longs to return to its golden age of colonial pomp.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Divided from its Pacific cousin by vast tracts of rainforest, Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast has an entirely unique flavour. These photos were snapped at various locations in the vast departments that comprise the area: The Southern and Northern Atlantic Autonomous regions.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Nicaragua’s Río San Juan department is one of the most remote and entrancing regions in Central America. These images were snapped on a journey from the jungle gateway of San Carlos, downstream to the historic fotress of El Castillo.
Interamericana is an intrepid new travel blog about the people and places surrounding the Carretera Interamericana - a 6000 kilometre stretch of highway that links Mexico and the seven nations of Central America. Created by guidebook writer and journalist Richard Arghiris, Interamericana combines photography, video and the best in alternative travel writing.
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Granada’s international poetry festival kicked off yesterday, 14th February 2010, with a belting set from Katia Cardenal. Performing at the Plaza Independencia, Katia sang a mixture of rousing folk songs and revolutionary ballads, including a superb homage to the Miskito people of the Atlantic coast (2nd song featured, actually in the Miskito language). Turn up the volume, pour yourself a rum, kick back and enjoy…
The land is scorched and broken. Piles of dark volcanic rubble litter the scene, yet to be properly eroded by sun, wind and rain. Years from now, these rocks will be transformed into fine, fertile silt. But for today, dead, black lava fields cling to the slopes like some monstrous reptilian hide – coarse, inscrutable, alien…
New Year’s Eve in Nicaragua is celebrated with all the incendiary zeal befitting one of the world’s most volcanic and tempestuous nations. Fire-crackers are ignited en-masse. A frenzy of explosions ricochets across the city. A grotesque effigy symbolizing the passing year is paraded through the streets and burned. These are some of the scenes depicted in this short video.
Las Isletas (The Little Islands) are one of Granada’s principal attractions. An archipelago of some 354 jewel-like islets scattered over the surface of Lake Nicaragua, they lure scores of visitors daily. This video was shot on the northern side of the island chain, where we saw a mixture of upscale holiday homes and other more natural settings strewn with lilies and vegetation…
Catholic sentiments reach a fervent peak in Nicaragua during the Purísima, a festival entirely devoted to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Lasting from late November to 8th December, the Purísima is a protracted celebration involving various family and church gatherings, as well as spirited street parties. Such is the scene depicted in this short film…
From late September to early December, the otherwise sleepy town of Masaya – Nicaragua’s bastion of folklore and indigenous traditions – comes alive with countless animated events, including the shambolic procession of El Torovenado, filmed here. This anarchic spectacle is the very embodiment of Nicaraguan character…
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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