Dia de los Muertos
Oaxaca, Mexico 2008
It is festive and it is reverent. It is parts tradition, superstition and religion. It is misunderstood by many outside of Mexico and cherished by those who view death, not as an end, but as another existence that is illuminated by the memories of the living who love them. Those memories are celebrated each year by honoring family and friends, who have transcended this existence, in a ceremony that brings families together, makes friends into family and strangers into friends. It is called Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, when the living feast, remember, celebrate, pray, love and imbibe spirits while spirits walk among them.
These photos, that document Dia de los Muertos, were taken in Oaxaca during the 2008 celebration. The photos in the cemetery were taken at night using a Leica M8 and an infrared filter that records light invisible to the human eye. Nothing has been added or removed from them, what you see is what the camera captured. I have no explanation for what appears in some of them and leave it up to the viewer to decide for themselves what has been recorded.
Oaxaca, Mexico 2008
It is festive and it is reverent. It is parts tradition, superstition and religion. It is misunderstood by many outside of Mexico and cherished by those who view death, not as an end, but as another existence that is illuminated by the memories of the living who love them. Those memories are celebrated each year by honoring family and friends, who have transcended this existence, in a ceremony that brings families together, makes friends into family and strangers into friends. It is called Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, when the living feast, remember, celebrate, pray, love and imbibe spirits while spirits walk among them.
These photos, that document Dia de los Muertos, were taken in Oaxaca during the 2008 celebration. The photos in the cemetery were taken at night using a Leica M8 and an infrared filter that records light invisible to the human eye. Nothing has been added or removed from them, what you see is what the camera captured. I have no explanation for what appears in some of them and leave it up to the viewer to decide for themselves what has been recorded.
