MEXICO DESCONOCIDO is one of the most important travel magazines in Mexico. Now my recent work in the Mixteca region has been featured.

Misión amaranto: puente a la salud comunitaria en Oaxaca

Soon I will publish the full work on this website.

THE BOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON AS PRINTED BOOK, IN THE MEANTIME YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE AS PDF E-BOOK

The GUELAGUETZA PHOTO EXPEDITION ’19 is finally a book. The book includes my photos and the ones of Oscar Arriaga Salas, the photographer who participated to this edition of my photo expedition in Oaxaca.

PDF E-BOOK, 43 PAGES HIGH RESOLUTION 83.6 MB

THE BOOK IS IN THE PREPARATION PHASE

Oscar Arriaga Salas

This is a photograph realized by Oscar Arriaga Salas, the photographer who won the Fujifilm Mexico Scholarship and participated to my Guelaguetza Photo Expedition. The little girl was photographed in a classroom during the summer workshop organized by the NGO Puente a la Salud Comunitaria in Santa Catarina Tayata, in the Oaxacan Mixteca region.

My student/compañero had the opportunity to accompany me in this work with the NGO I have been working with for three years. And this is exactly what a photo expedition with me is: to participate to real photographic experiences in order to adquire knowledge about as a documentary photographer and photojournalist works. 

With Oscar I will realize a printed book of our expedition in Oaxaca. It will be proposed as printed book, but we will distribute the pdf e-book for free, in order to give the opportunity to anyone to know our work made in Oaxaca in 8 days.

According to wikipedia Teotitlán del Valle is a small village and municipality located in the Tlacolula District in the east of the Valles Centrales Region, 31 km from the city of Oaxaca. During the recent Guelaguetza Photo Expedition I visited one of the factories.

The expert hands of the Zapotecos of the valley, through the wool, create on the pedal telars, beautiful works of art, threads dyed with natural plants, among those the flower of cempasúchil and the cochineal.

Teotitlan, from nahuatl Tierra de Dioses (Land of the Gods) is a “pueblo” appartaining to the municipality of Tlacolula that has become extremely famous for the abundance of laboratories where this ancestral technique is used. The production is a process that is transmitted from generation to generation and uses extremely rudimentary but effective methods. The coloring of these skeins of wool must be through natural dyes that are obtained from plants and insects such as: huizache, indigo, cochineal, indigo, rock moss, zempaxuchitl flower, among others. First, the raw wool is washed and then goes through the color wash where (depending on the amount of dye and the time left standing) it will acquire the necessary appearance for its fabric.

After last year during the celebrations of Guelaguetza I photographed the Zancudos Buin Zaa while busy in their performance at the Market parade in Oaxaca (Desfilè de los mercados) as you can see by clicking here this year I did have the opportunity to photograph another group directly where these folk dancers are born, in Zaachila.

“The pothole is a peasant expression, of poor people celebrating their triumph against the disease.”

I approached them as they prepared to rehearse for the Guelaguetza in Zaachila. The Zancudos San Pedro la Reforma were immediately available, hospitable and friendly with me. I talked with them, in particular with Carlos Diego García Guzmán, the secretary of Los Zancudos del Barrio de San Pedro La Reforma, and he explained me about their history and origins  that I already did know but with new particulars, for example that they are open to all the age and also children are zancudos, of course with shorter stilts.

Diego also told me that the origin is peasant and that compared to the dance of the pluma, originating from the nearby Cuilapam, representing the wealthiest class of warriors, the Zancudos with their modest clothes show the people of countryside. During our conversation he shows me also a mask which he himself made by carving wood.

 

 

 

I would thank Diego Garcia and the Zancudos San Pedro la Reforma de Zaachila. Most important thing to me is that they can appreciate this work. I recommend you to follow their page on facebook:

 

https://www.facebook.com/Zancudos-de-San-Pedro-la-Reforma-Zaachila-Oaxaca-415804872102785/

 

 

 

 

 

OAXACA, MEXICO – 2019:07:27

Today we visited Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz

Today we visited Miahuatlán, a change in the original program, but always focused on giving the best experience for the participants. Rolando met in the market while I was photographing asked me to go to his restaurant to take some pictures and publishing them. Result: we eaten delicious tacos. I thank Rolando and his family.

I recommend the place. And I can say: what a great experience we are living!

LATINPHOTO, JOURNALISTIC AGENCY SPECIALIZED IN LATINAMERICA, HAS CHOSEN ME FOR THIS MONTH

As you know my work as a photojournalist is represented by Polaris Images and LATINPHOTO.org and this month I am the photographer of the month for the agency with the focus on LatinAmerica.

I am honored for this. I consider it to be an important recognition as a documentary photographer, for all the work realized here in Mexico, with my projects and with the breaking news coverage. With LATINPHOTO.org we helped a family last year, and I like the fact the agency is really committed with the social issues of LA. Exactly like me they have an idea that the photographer is not just one who takes photos for himself, but through his activity he can improve the reality of people.

Take a look to my work and to that of the other photographers, here:

http://www.latinphoto.org/MES/

You can also take a look to all the photos I have in their archive by clicking here

In the barrio of Santiago Atepetlac, otherwise called Santiaguito, in the north of Mexico City, the traditional via crucis took place yesterday. In this small barrio there is no spectacular representation, but it is absolutely felt and lived by many faithful who live here. Aware of the fact that many colleagues went to photograph in Itzapalapa, I preferred to concentrate my docuemntation on something decidedly simpler and in fact I was the only photo reporter working there.

I am pleased to announce I joined the Loculars team

Proud to join loculars as photography educator. This is a great professional recognition to my career and my professionality as a teacher. the team includes great photographers like Donna Ferrato and Dimitri Mellos.

Documentary Photography workshops with me!!!

You can already check out my page:

Photographer Alex Coghe

And there is already the first experience you can join:

Experience Social documentary photo workshop at Basilica of Guadalupe Mexico City with Fujifilm Ambassador Alex Coghe

Soon will be addd a night workshop at Zona Rosa and a photo expedition in Oaxaca. Stay tuned!!!

OGGI UN GRANDE GIORNO ALL’ESQUILINO

Anno scorso sono stato invitato a realizzare un reportage sull’Esquilino, uno dei sette colli di Roma, e mi sono concentrato nell’area che comprende Piazza Vittorio, sconfinando un poco e arrivando a fotografare in una delle strade che costeggia la stazione Termini. Ho lavorato a questo progetto proprio per la mostra che oggi è stata inaugurata presso Palazzo del Freddo di Giovanni Fassi srl in Via Principe Eugenio 65-67. L’ingresso è gratuito.

Domenico Cammarano, uno dei curatori della mostra, mi ha inviato due scatti:

Vi ricordo che del mio lavoro sono disponibili un’edizione e-book e un libro stampato. Questi i links di riferimento:

Piazza Vittorio: an e-book

PIAZZA VITTORIO è adesso un libro stampato

Esquilino

Gaetano Sepe

***EDIT***

La mostra prosegue per altri 20 gioni nelle sale dell’EMPAM:

A DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK CONTAINING THE WORK OF 3 YEARS AT THE BASILICA OF GUADALUPE DURING THE CELEBRATIONS IN DECEMBER

The devotion and cult for the Guadalupe Virgin meets its climax in the celebration of December. The celebrations are also a meeting between the ancient pre-Hispanic cults and Catholicism. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is recognized as a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans.
Cultural symbol of Mexican identity, the Virgin of Guadalupe, is able to unite an entire large nation as Mexico.
The origin of the importance of the Virgen de Guadalupe can be traced back to the religious beliefs and ceremonies that animated the daily lives of pre-Hispanic people from birth to death.

La devoción y el culto a la Virgen de Guadalupe se encuentran con su clímax en la celebración de diciembre. Las celebraciones también son un encuentro entre los antiguos cultos prehispánicos y el catolicismo. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe es reconocida como un símbolo de todos los católicos mexicanos.
El símbolo cultural de la identidad mexicana, la Virgen de Guadalupe, es capaz de unir a una gran nación entera como México.
El origen de la importancia de la Virgen de Guadalupe se remonta a las creencias y ceremonias religiosas que animaron la vida cotidiana de las personas prehispánicas desde el nacimiento hasta la muerte.

GET YOUR PRINTED COPY TODAY

12/12/2018 – Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico. Un hombre afuera de un templo en el atrio de la Basílica de Guadalupe, protegiéndose con un sombrero mientras la gente llena la Basílica. 10 millones 603 mil feligreses llegaron el domingo, lunes y martes. Los peregrinos llegaron de cualquier parte de México para ofrecer una prueba de su devoción a la Virgen de Guadalupe. /
A man is out of a temple in the atrium of Basilica de Guadalupe, protecting himself with a sombrero while people fills the Basilica. © Alessio Coghe

This print is now available in a wonderful Premium dibond format. Documentary Photography meets Street Photography in this picture. If you buy it an authentic piece of Mexico will be at your home or office!

BUY NOW

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE MY NEW E-BOOK IS AVAILABLE

PDF E-BOOK, 106 PAGES

Another inspiring e-book for photographers. Landscape, Street and Documentary Photography analyzed through a lot of photos, selected and proposed in a 106 pages pdf e-book.

If you want a book about technique and about reading the situations and the images, this is the book for you.

The book is available in home page:

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