About the Project: 
In Mexico and Exvoto

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In Mexico and Exvoto are my first two digital photography projects and were made in 2003. In Mexico are street photographs and were taken in the state of Oaxaca where a few friends and I went for a visit. I'd frequently shoot from the hip loving autofocus. While I took many photographs the images of women working or in the streets or visiting churches were the most expressive to me.

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The second group of photos I call Exvoto and is a digital computer project made on my return; I used the files I shot of icons in Mexico. I was fascinated by the prevalence of the icons and also the particular choice of Mary, a sacred female, and the people's evident veneration of her. I was struck with the way signs of spiritual life were seamlessly integrated into the fabric of Mexican culture. In this series, I use digital manipulation of the image to draw attention to the way the icon is nonchalantly incorporated into common settings: everybody has an altar; it's the norm. I selected a tiny part of the digital photograph and enlarged it to enhance, through the print's pixilated surface, the icon's integration into the space surrounding it.

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I spent a day alone in Mexico City to see Our Lady of Guadalupe, the famous divinely painted tilma of Saint Juan Diego. In the afternoon, I went to Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo's Blue House, where, via their large collection, I discovered, exvotos, little folk art paintings on tin. These show someone praying to a saint in gratitude for their help through a particular crisis. Though the paintings are small, each one includes an image of the saint, the supplicant, a depiction of the event, and the actual words of the thankful message. These public expressions of gratitude for assistance with private needs greatly inspired me. I see this project as my own personal exvoto.