Mayan Queens - Rodrigo Abd

(Photo © Rodrigo Abd -All Rights Reserved)

I want to share "Mayan Queens," a series of portraits of the 2011 participants of the National Indigenous Queen of Guatemala contest.

All his pictures are in black & white and were taken with a 19th century style wooden box camera he bought in Afghanistan.

Indigenous culture in Guatemala is very rich, and the pictures show us the great diversity of faces and clothes of the descendants of the mystical Mayans.

Abd is a photographer for the Associated Press. His work has been widely published and he as won numerous prizes, including a Pulitzer he shares with other AP photographers for coverage of the Syrian war.

To see the Mayan Queens portraits enter this link:
rodrigoabd.com/mayan-queens

For more visit his website:  rodrigoabd.com

Ivan - Stronger than a hug

I want to share the story Stronger than a Hug. This great story is about Alonso Barrios, a 9-year-old boy, who was born without arms and who learned to live with his handicap, photographed by Ivan Gonzalez.  Ivan is a photographer and photo editor in Caracas, Venezuela. He is also a good friend. We worked together for several years in Venezuela. I'm honored to feature his work in my blog.

To see the slide show click in the picture.

(Photo ©Ivan González-All Rights Reserved)

To see more pictures of Ivan González please enter this link (In Spanish):

http://ivangonzalez.photoshelter.com

The Fighter: New Audio-Slide Show

"The Fighter" is an audio-slide show featuring images by Alberto Loranca, the student of a photography workshop for the blind and visually impaired at the Sight of Emotion organization where I recently lead a class. I interviewed Loranca for the audio and produced the final product. We met when I was working on my own audio-slide show about the photography school for the blind.

Alberto Loranca was born blind. In his photo essay, he uses a toy wrestler and a flash light to illustrate his reflexions on life, in particular the struggles people face to succeed. I discovered his pictures while organizing the association's photo archive of students's photography, and I asked him what he wanted to communicate. I liked the concept and his message, as it is simple and wise. This audio-slide show is different from others I've produced, as his voice is the only audio and his images are in black and white.

To see the project enter this link: www.chicosanchez.com/thefighter

(Photo ©Alberto Loranca/OQS-All Rights Reserved)

   To know more about Sight of Emotion enter their website: sightofemotion.com (In Spanish)

 To see more of my audio-slide shows please enter my website: www.chicosanchez.com