Join photographer Paul Boyer www.paulboyer.com and Traditions Mexico in a collaborative journey through the Oaxacan highlands for a photographic tour of villages, crumbling monasteries, wide vistas and narrow streets.
Combining Paul’s 20 years of photographic teaching and travel experience with Traditions Mexico’s deep knowledge of Oaxaca, we’ve created a photography course and tour that will immerse you in the image-rich world of Oaxaca.
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The cathedral of San Domingo in Oaxaca City |
We will spend nine days exploring Oaxaca’s visual and cultural diversity; a crumbling Dominican convent in an eroded valley, cliff-top Zapotec ruins, the bustling street life of the Oaxaca market district, adobe villages, a weaver’s creaking loom, remote mineral springs, a smoky mescal distillery, and more.
Throughout the trip there will be personal and group photo sessions with Paul to help you get the best of the beauty and depth this experience offers. The instruction will be geared to individuals more than to equipment and the participant need not to be an expert, and does not need to carry the most expensive gear available. We will learn to get the best results from whatever equipment we have.
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The Alvarez Bravo Center for Photography in Oaxaca City |
The camera is a wonderful tool for engaging with people and cultures. Handled properly, it can be used to bridge national borders and language barriers, and it can be used to create living memories. That’s the goal of the workshop.
Digital photography enables the best learning experience for this workshop, because of the ability toreview images throughout the tour. But for those who choose to photograph with film, the instruction will concentrate on composition and exposure techniques. Good b&w and color labs are available in Oaxaca City. The review possibilities will be more limited for film photographers.
Guides and presenters for this workshop will be Joshua Sage and photographer Paul Boyer.
About Paul Boyer: Paul has been photographing since 1970, and has taught workshops regularly since 1985. He teaches ongoing classes in basic digital photography and Adobe Photoshop through the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango, Colorado, and he leads photography tours to Italy, Newfoundland, the San Juan Mountains, the Canyon Country of Southeast Utah, and the Pacific Northwest. You will find his Website at http://www.paulboyer.com/
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Trip
Details |
| Where |
The city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, and surrounding valleys |
| When |
Jan. 31 - Feb. 8, 2009 |
| Duration |
9 days, 8 nights |
| Size |
7-12 participants |
| Cost |
$200 off - now $2,295 |
| Trip Guides |
Paul Boyer and Joshua Sage |
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Day 1, Sat. (D) We meet this early evening for introductions and orientation, and a first class Oaxacan meal. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli in the central historic district of Oaxaca.
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Found "wall art" in an old neighborhood in Oaxaca City |
Day 2, Sun. (B,L,D) Sundays in Oaxaca are slow, peaceful, and quiet. A wonderful time to wander the city, poke around the old Benito Juarez market, have an ice cream under the laurel trees by the Soledad church, wander the cobbled lanes of the Jalatlaco and Arquitos neighborhoods, sip a coffee and watch the world amble by in the Zocalo. All of these places offer wonderful photographic opportunities. In the afternoon you’ll have the option of a visit to the hilltop house of a potter in a nearby village to see her work and the view from up high. After dinner we will review what images have been taken for the day. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
Day 3, Mon. (B,L) A short ride takes us into the Etla valley and to two tree-filled hillside villages. We will visit a colonial textile mill that has been converted into a gorgeous arts school. The building and surroundings are endless eye-candy. We’ll also visit a nearby hand-made paper workshop to see the artisans at work and if available, have tea in the home of recognized Mexican photographer, Antonio Turok. (See http://antonioturok.com/) In the afternoon we’ll return to Oaxaca and venture out again in the evening for night photography around the city. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
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A soccer ball escapes from practice beside the immense cathedral of Yanhuitlan |
Day 4, Feb. (B,L)Today we head far afield, leaving the Oaxaca valleys behind and heading into the Mixteca uplands. Our destinations are a couple of crumbling fortress monasteries built by Dominican monks 400 years ago. Between these enormous stone structures, in the broad and eroded landscape of the high Mixteca and the small towns where the monasteries are found, there will be much to fill the lens. In the late afternoon or after dinner, we will review photos from the last couple of days. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
Day 5, Wed. (B,L,D) After breakfast we head to Mexico’s most famous and productive weaving village, the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle. En route we’ll stop to admire the Tule tree, which has the widest diameter of any tree on earth. At the home of the Gonzalez Family, we’ll go to work learning how to cook a Zapotec meal and then we’ll go to work eating it. Later we head to the town of Mitla and the ruined Zapotec palaces of the same name. Palaces, Spanish church, vendors’ booths full of goodies and kitsch, a village all around! Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
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Day 6, Thurs. (B,L,D)Today we’ll enjoy a slow morning with breakfast and a chance for a wander in the village and review of photos. Then we travel into the oak-clad hills for a day-long visit to the spectacular mineral springs of Hierve el Agua. Here we will visit with a family of traditional palm weavers who make sleeping mats and tortilla baskets. We’ll enjoy a simple country meal of beans, cheese, tortillas and fresh avocados with them. But when the sun starts getting low we’ll be sure to be on the loose around the white-stone mineral springs perched in the rugged hills. Overnight at the Hotel Oaxacalli.
Day 7, Fri. (B,L,D)Our morning travels will take us again into the village of Teotitlan and the homes of a couple of fine rug weavers where we will see the looms at work, perhaps some wool dyeing and certainly many beautiful rugs and interesting people. Today we will also visit a walled graveyard of jumbled tombstones and chapels all draped under the branches of enormous cypress trees. Finally, as the sun softens, we will explore the Zapotec ruins of Yagul, which are built on an outcrop surrounded by cactus, cliffs and farmer’s fields. After dinner, photo reviews will be in full action. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
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Agave, or maguey, in the Ethnobotanical Garden |
Day 8, Sat. (B,L,D) Our final full day finds us returning to where we began, Oaxaca city. We’ll have a private tour of the ethnobotanical gardens on the walled grounds of the ancient Santo Domingo Convent. Then we’ll visit the Alvaro Bravo Photographic Museum and perhaps have lunch. In the afternoon you’ll have the option to do last minute shopping, do some more shooting around the city or visit the crowning jewel of the Zapotec people, the ruined city of Monte Alban. Overnight at Hotel Oaxacalli.
Day 9. (B) After breakfast, we’ll say our goodbyes as folks head to the airport for their flights home.
All itineraries subject to change without notice.
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