Holi Celebration in Phoenix!
Posted on March 12, 2015
When I was a student at Arizona State University I attended my first Holi celebration but it is nothing compared to what I experience at South Mountain Park at an event hosted by the Indian Association of Phoenix. It was madness, but a slow madness and I’m lucky I only got caught by two people. If you want to know more about the festival I would recommend clicking the link above as wikipedia will do a better job than I will.
What I loved about the celebration was the pure joy of it, when I teach my photojournalism students about capturing moments we talk about how difficult that can be. People are so aware in everyday life it’s hard to capture honest moments of emotion. A festival like this is beautiful because it reminds people how much fun can be had in just a few hours of their Sunday afternoon. I saw grown men chasing each other with water guns and dousing each other with buckets of colored water. It is rare to see adults, myself included, reduced to the pure joy of childhood and it makes those ‘moments’ so much easier to capture. My only lament was that I couldn’t properly participate (I had a formal event I was shooting later in the day and the dyes do stick to your skin . . . ).
Dominoes!
Posted on June 12, 2009
Dominoes, a game played religiously almost in Venezuela, Cuba, and other Caribean countries. It seems simple, but can go on for a long, long time. Here are a few outtakes from a Venezuelan barbeque in San Diego. I had to shoot at 3200 so hopefully the colors don’t look like total crap, since i’ve noticed wordpress seems to get funky when posting high ISO pics
Another starting day
Posted on May 19, 2009
Just one that I like from a wedding I shot this weekend. We started News21 today as well, I feel a little overwhelmed with information and what I need to do, but excited as well. I’m trying to focus on the cultural side of la virgen de guadalupe . . . along with another thread from that story concerning the movement of culture crossing the border.
La Virgen at the basilica in DF:
Mamey muffins? Mariachi Ghosts? Everything you might want to know about DF
Posted on April 23, 2009
So to start off the next twenty wonderful days I have in this city I wanted to put together a blog post of all of the blogs I link to of fellow journalists, photographers and videographers in DF. From covering cultura to hiphop to art or whatever else is on their mind . . . mariachi ghosts even . . . it is a good collection that keeps me informed when I find myself somewhere else.
Spainish Lessons is the post above.
Gotta love the Chilangabacha action I get on my reader regularly. They’re insightful and cheeky looks into cultural issues in the city and in Mexico in general.
Proceso is an impressive publication here, I first started reading them when they did a profile on sicarios, executioners, in Juarez, Mexico but I’m definitely addicted now.
Hey Mamey . . . Leslie Tellez, a transplant to Mexico City has a fun blog entitled The Mija Chronicles where she even has a post of Mamey muffins. If you don’t know what a Mamey is check it out a picture here.
Another set of interesting websites and blogs include This Mexican American Life is another good blog, I love the layout and the stories . . . definitely worth checking out.
Mexican Reporter is an awesome video blog by Deborah Bonello who works for the LA Times down here and is prolific in the amount of posts and subjects she covers.
Camilo Smith, as seen above, has a blog that focuses on hip hop both in the States and in Mexico City called Iknowhuh and has written some great articles about Nina Dioz, a Monterrey artist.
Daniel Hernandez has his own blog Intersections which covers a variety of subjects of culture in Mexico City. He has written some interesting posts ranging from Wisin and Yandel to the start of art week in the big city.
Brian Frank for his story on the drug war in Mexico
As for photographers, there are several good ones out here. Azul Enzue is a more artistic photographer as you can see on her blog here or the journalistic work of Brian Harkin on his blog. Mexico City photographer Brian Frank has a gritty, intense look at the more dangerous and rough neighborhoods.
And of course
Obviously there are loads and loads of more sites, but this is a start for me . . . feel free to suggest other good links.Alexis Okeowo’s blog, a writer for the NYTimes and countless other media in the states is an excellent look at not only Mexico City but different African nations where she worked for two years.
Deanna Dent 
