![_____________________________
Museo Soumaya I Mexico City
A friend of mine recently stated that you can’t go wrong with B&W, but I like to think that you can’t possibly go wrong whenever you’re shooting a beautiful subject, that’s when you really can’t go wrong. That, and B&W :]
A lot of expectation and controversy have risen around the Museo Soumaya, the newest glimmering aluminum-encased museum in Mexico City. But, why? Well, this museum belongs to the world’s richest man (according to Forbes 2010 list of richest billionaires), the mexican business magnate Carlos Slim Helú. The $70 million structure, part of the $800 million complex, is free admission and the Slim Foundation takes care of the maintenance costs, not to mention that it is home to Slim’s 66,000-piece private collection, including the second biggest Rodin’s collection in the world, the largest in private hands.
Some critics in the mexican art world say that Slim is more of a bargain hunter rather than an aesthete (referring to his collection) but I think it’s unfair to make such a statement when all he’s trying to do is making art more approachable to regular people who can’t afford traveling to another country to see relevant artworks. Yeah, he could’ve built a huge gallery for his own pleasure but no, he built this amazing space for us to visit. Shouldn’t that be enough of a gift to society? Why being so harsh on him? Well, I guess not eveyone will be ever satisfied with any effort a rich man makes. Of course it has some flaws but I think we should wait a little before start making hard reviews on such a young museum.
Art will be art, no matter its size, shape or media, that’s why I don’t believe in good or bad pieces from a particular artist for those pieces are part of their growth. I’m not claiming it to be the best museum either, but I do stay with what Slim said the night of the VIP opening gala, back in February: “It’s a gift to the city and to the whole country of Mexico, and to all the kids too”
The museum was named after Slim’s late wife, Soumaya Domit, who died of kidney failure in 1999. The Soumaya, besides being home to this eclectic collection, also houses a needed hope in the art circle.
One thing’s for sure, I won’t ever get tired of looking at its everchanging façade.
Enjoy!
-Alejandro M. Campos Herrera
_____________________________________________
submission from amchphotography](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxmg94dFct1qaxt0do1_500.jpg)
_____________________________
A friend of mine recently stated that you can’t go wrong with B&W, but I like to think that you can’t possibly go wrong whenever you’re shooting a beautiful subject, that’s when you really can’t go wrong. That, and B&W :]
A lot of expectation and controversy have risen around the Museo Soumaya, the newest glimmering aluminum-encased museum in Mexico City. But, why? Well, this museum belongs to the world’s richest man (according to Forbes 2010 list of richest billionaires), the mexican business magnate Carlos Slim Helú. The $70 million structure, part of the $800 million complex, is free admission and the Slim Foundation takes care of the maintenance costs, not to mention that it is home to Slim’s 66,000-piece private collection, including the second biggest Rodin’s collection in the world, the largest in private hands.
Some critics in the mexican art world say that Slim is more of a bargain hunter rather than an aesthete (referring to his collection) but I think it’s unfair to make such a statement when all he’s trying to do is making art more approachable to regular people who can’t afford traveling to another country to see relevant artworks. Yeah, he could’ve built a huge gallery for his own pleasure but no, he built this amazing space for us to visit. Shouldn’t that be enough of a gift to society? Why being so harsh on him? Well, I guess not eveyone will be ever satisfied with any effort a rich man makes. Of course it has some flaws but I think we should wait a little before start making hard reviews on such a young museum.
Art will be art, no matter its size, shape or media, that’s why I don’t believe in good or bad pieces from a particular artist for those pieces are part of their growth. I’m not claiming it to be the best museum either, but I do stay with what Slim said the night of the VIP opening gala, back in February: “It’s a gift to the city and to the whole country of Mexico, and to all the kids too”
The museum was named after Slim’s late wife, Soumaya Domit, who died of kidney failure in 1999. The Soumaya, besides being home to this eclectic collection, also houses a needed hope in the art circle.
One thing’s for sure, I won’t ever get tired of looking at its everchanging façade.
Enjoy!
-Alejandro M. Campos Herrera
_____________________________________________
En la poblacion Zapotecas del Istmo de Tehuantepec, Juchitán, Oaxaca, México, se les llama muxes (‘mushes’) a los varones travestidos que asumen roles femeninos en la comunidad.
Los Zapotecas ocupaban un puesto especial en Mesoamérica como una de las civilizaciones más antiguas y avanzadas. Algunos de los primeros ejemplos de gran arquitectura en este continente fueron diseñados y erguidos por ellos.
Si bien la homosexualidad en esta región del sur de México hoy en día es tan estigmatizada como en otras partes del país, en las poblaciones Zapotecas aún se pueden encontrar vestigios de la tolerancia y aceptación que los muxes disfrutaban antes de la conquista.
Taxco, Mexico
by: me
El término chamanismo se refiere a un grupo de creencias y prácticas tradicionales preocupadas por la comunicación con el mundo de los espíritus. El practicante del chamanismo es conocido como chamán.
La palabra chamán es de hecho usada vagamente para casi cualquier doctor brujo salvaje que se pone frenético y tiene comunicación con los espíritus. En su forma original parece ser una corrupción del sánscrito «shramana», que indica a un discípulo de Buda y entre los mongoles se convirtió en sinónimo de mago.
Gas Station, Mazatlan, Mexico- Paul Outerbridge (1950)
Manuel Álvares Bravo nació en la Ciudad de Mexico el 4 de febrero de 1902 y falleció el 19 de octubre de 2002 a la edad de 100 años. Plasmó la cultura e identidad mexicanas, con una visión que va más allá de una simple documentación. Ya que, con gran imaginación se adentró en la vida urbana y la de los pueblos. Tuvo una gran amistad con Tina Modotti, Diego Rivera, Frida Kalho,Pablo O’ Higgins,entre otros. Manuel Álvares Bravo se distingue por emplear elementos que dan mayor énfasis a la capacidad para evocar imágenes, a través de los sugestivos títulos de sus fotografías. Basándose siempre en la cultura y en la tradición mexicanas, denota en su obra una gran perspicacia y, en ocasiones, un fino sentido del humor. Como así también el manejo simultáneo de lo familiar y lo inesperado, generando una ambigüedad que invita al espectador a ver con nuevos ojos las cosas cotidianas y a construir su propio significado.
