Throughout the ages, different cultures have manifested certain beliefs, traditions and ways of life in different ways, many of them today captured in the art of photography.
In these photographs are captured the faces of the people who in one way or another are part of that tradition, that way of life and often of certain beliefs.
As I always say, beyond the religious point of view, what strikes me is the art of photography, of being able to capture certain gestures, looks, expressions and even emotions in people.
In this case it is the work of the photographer Pío Cabanillas and he called the exhibition Antigua. This is the name that the town from which the people portrayed in these marvellous photographs or portraits come from was given over time.
According to a writing in the exhibition hall, the place where the photographs were taken was called Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, a town dating back to 1541. Already at this point I was struck by the antiquity of the city. It was destroyed by numerous earthquakes and the people abandoned it two centuries later. That is why it is now called Antigua or Arruinada.
It was also mentioned on another poster that the buildings were rebuilt over time, the churches and convents in baroque style and are now a World Heritage Site. It is admirable that they have sought to maintain these places and also their antiquity and architecture.
But going back to the photographs, the author manages to capture in the faces of the people emotions that I see as sorrow, sadness, prayer, suffering and how they take into their hearts what Holy Week means to them.
A tradition of this city that is celebrated with a lot of feeling in a very particular way in the streets of the city. A devotion pronounced by this belief that sows all the scenes with mystery. A week dedicated to venerate that passion, that suffering and rebirth. An almost magical environment.
Beliefs that are deeply rooted in these people and that are lived with intensity, beyond everyday life. I think about what these people feel, as if they live this event over and over again every year from deep inside, suffering something from another era.
I also paid attention to the scenes shown in the photographs, the decorations, the incense, the practices performed and the intensity of the practices experienced by these people and their faces showed it.
How many cultures, how many beliefs there are in this world, I think about it. One can think a lot about it for or against, what is certain is the art and the way this photographer captured the soul in the eyes of the people, in the gestures of their faces and in the postures of their bodies.
The tonality in the photographs, between black and white with sepia features, brings us to the evocation of the past, of that remote era and how they lived these dates at that time and how this belief has been carried from one place to another in the world.
An exquisite photographic exhibition, as I always say, beyond the subject matter, the professionalism of the art is admirable. I was delighted to enjoy it, go through it and admire its quality.
Thank you all very much for joining me today. I wish you all a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
