Self in Mexico, Reflected

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6.

Being a bit more involved with Flickr and looking at a lot of photography this year has made me somewhat more intentional and thoughtful about my own efforts in the medium. Because I live with a professional who's so skilled and talented, I've never taken my own photography all that seriously, though it's been a big part of this blog forever. This time in Mexico I was less interested in simply recording what I was seeing - though I did quite a bit of that, of course - and found myself being more experimental about making images, as well as looking for series of things that might make interesting blog posts.

I'm fascinated with surfaces, and complex visual fields. Mexico City offers more visual richness and complexity than any place I've ever been, and I think I was trying to capture that feeling in the images I took. Somewhere around the midpoint of the trip I realized I was making a series of reflected self-portraits; some are more successful than others but I think all of them say something about what was happening there with my eyes, brain, heart. My personal favorite of these is the one at the bottom, taken in the outdoor garden at the Museum of Anthropology. What do you think?

1. Ladies' room mirror at a restaurant

2. Parque Chapultepec

3. Anthropology Museum

4. Waiting for Metrobus

5. Street level window, National Gallery of Art

6. Anthropology Museum

Comments

[EasyDiverChris]

I like the ones where the camera isn't evident. 6. is the best one in my view because it isn't so clearly a self-portrait.

[rr]

I love them all but particularly the one of you and Jonathan. Those stances!

[Duchesse]

Each (save "Waiting for Metrobus") includes classical Mexican motifs, with you floating in there. And I have a soft spot for you in the cutout plane!

[Rachel Barenblat]

Oh, these are beautiful!

[Natalie]

All interesting photos, Beth. My favourite is the top one for many reasons, one being the accidental and intriguing juxtaposition of the letters "fasci..."(with the rest of the word fascination not clearly seen). I initially read that as 'fascism' and then looked up at those imperialistic columns (which of course are meant to refer to cactus) and was reminded of Mussolini and fascist architecture in Italy! Then there's your reflection as observer or recorder of this quirky chain of associations...Fascinante!