Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy shooting for JOSA Tulum? Not only am I a huge fan of their beautiful dresses and caftans, but when the shoot itself takes place at a location as gorgeous as Jashita Hotel – I must admit I actually forget that I’m working. Add to the mix collaborating with fun and brilliant Joanne Salt, JOSA Tulum’s creative force and co-founder from New York City, plus Mariam Dedyn, lovely young singer and model from Argentina, and I’m basically in my dream-world-meets-real-life scenario. Thank you so much, as always, for this incredible opportunity to not only shoot fashion, but to do it in the company of some truly inspiring individuals!

Some links:
www.josatulum.com
www.jashitahotel.com

Finding myself recently on the island of Caye Caulker in Belize, I spent a perfectly active Caribbean day in great company doing some sailing, snorkeling and exploring a small section of the Belize Barrier Reef. Located slightly offshore, the entire length of this coral reef system is roughly one-third of the 900-kilometer-long (560 miles) Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, which stretches from Cancún on the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya down to Honduras making it one of the largest coral reef systems in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef.) Vital to Belize’s tourism and fishing industries, it’s also a World Heritage Site and one of the richest eco-systems in the world. Continuously suffering damage from hurricanes, global warming, oceanic pollution as well as uncontrolled tourism, shipping and fishing, Belize’s fragile water-world is increasingly under threat despite passionate protective measures from Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. Witnessing such incredible beauty and fragility simultaneously made me feel enormous gratitude for every form and manifestation of life.

Last week I complained profusely on Facebook about being robbed during my recent trip to Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas. Upon arrival to Palenque, my very first stop, I discovered I was targeted in transit and consequently left without any money and without my most valuable possession – my camera! Two weeks later I still feel pangs of devastation, heartbreak and supreme guilt about borrowing money from people I love to replace my gear, not to mention the logistical Catch-22 of my situation. It’s actually rather difficult to approach the writing of this story as I seem to have temporarily lost faith in humanity and all that is good in the world… However, from past experience I know these things are always a matter of perspective and I certainly don’t want to remain a victim. Instead I want to use this blog post to help me switch focus from what I lost to what I gained. And what I gained, first and foremost, was a long-awaited trip to one of Mexico’s most beautiful and interesting locations – Chiapas. What I also gained, thanks to a friend’s generous offer to use her camera, are photos of San Cristobal de las Casas in the above slideshow. Located in Mexico’s Central Highlands region at 2,200 meters above sea level, the city of San Cristobal sits in a small valley surrounded by hills and enjoys temperate climate despite its tropical location. Up here in the mountains the afternoon light is golden, crisp, and reminiscent of amber from surrounding pine tree forests.

Of course one simply cannot talk about Chiapas and San Cristobal without mentioning the ongoing revolutionary leftist Zapatista movement synonymous with the region. Chiapas gained international attention on January 1, 1994, when EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) was led by Subcomandante Marcos in an uprising against NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) that went into effect that same day. Fighting to protect indigenous interests against the government, the ideology of Zapatista movement is an incredibly intelligent fusion of values of indigenous Maya with social anarchism and Marxism. For this reason San Cristobal, being the cultural capital of the state, is permeated by the spirit of a new kind of revolution – one whose aim is to raise consciousness and personal engagement in core economic, environmental and human rights issues at the heart of the country as well as the rest of the planet!

If you want to understand the fascinating political and economic landscape of Mexico and how it influences global economy, please refer to these Wikipedia articles:

EZLN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation#Ideology
Chiapas Conflict: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiapas_conflict

Last month I was delighted to shoot the opening of JOSA Tulum – a fashionable little addition to Tulum’s budding boutique lineup. Headed by Joanne Salt and Ana Cabello, JOSA Tulum is a perfect fusion of Tulum and New York City. The goal and concept of JOSA is to provide women with dresses that can be tossed into a beach bag in the morning and are there on hand throughout the day as a cover-up, yet are stylish and sexy enough to take you into the evening hours for a late cocktail or a glamorous dinner – the perfect go-to dress for all occasions. My personal opinion – these dresses are gorgeous and everyone should have one! Explore more on www.josatulum.com and become their fan on facebook.

In the south of Mexican state of Campeche, only 35 kilometers from the border with Guatemala, there sits buried in the jungle an enormous and forgotten Mayan capital city Calakmul. It’s difficult to get to because of the thick surrounding jungle and only one dirt road leading through it to the ruins. But the hours of bouncing up and down along this road are well worth it because Calakmul is truly a magnificent archeological site and happens to be my personal favorite! The enormous stepped pyramid structures and the overall infrastructure of the city serve as one of the best examples of direct incorporation of Mayan cosmology into the ancient tradition’s architecture and urban planning. The core area of Calakmul is approximately 2 square kilometers, containing 1000 structures, most still in the process of being uncovered by archeologists. The city axis were predetermined by cardinal directions, while ritual temples, observatories and governmental buildings were constructed according to the Maya interpretation of star orbits. Large platforms and plazas were connected by causeways called ‘sacbe.’ Amazingly, the city’s water supply was collected with the help of an intricate system of canals and large fresh-water reservoirs, estimated to have supported from 50,000 to 100,000 people!

The name ‘Calakmul’ literally translates to mean ’City of Two Adjacent Pyramids’ and during most of the Classic Period (250-900 CE) in the chronology of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica it was a warrior city and a major seat of  power  to the inhabitants of the era’s so-called Kingdom of the Snake. Calakmul’s population is estimated to have been 50,000 people and its dominions included areas as far away as 150 kilometers! Throughout the Classic Period, Calakmul maintained an intense rivalry with another major city of Tikal in today’s Guatemala, and the political relationship and maneuverings of these two cities attest to an ongoing struggle between two Maya superpowers. Wandering around the site, for the most part completely alone, you can almost hear the echoes of that forgotten world… Perhaps with the help of this slideshow you’ll be able to hear them as well.

It was a great pleasure to take part in helping out Santa during the project’s 2011 chapter. Please visit the Juguetón Baxal-Paal Facebook page to find out more and/or to offer your own support. A special thanks goes to Mexico Kan Tours, local travel agency who sponsored this season’s cheerful Mayan Christmas story.

Story sponsored by:

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For my latest assignment I was hired to shoot Playa Azul Hotel in Tulum, Mexico. It happens to be one of my long-time favorite establishments in the area, so I was thrilled about the opportunity to play freely on its beach turf. Playa Azul has all the trappings of what Tulum has become famous for – pristine white-sand beach lined with lush tropical gardens, hammocks swaying under palm trees, and accommodations of rooms and free-standing cabañas with a perfect balance of rustic and modern comfort. Conveniently, there’s a great beachside bar and restaurant to quench your cravings for local flavors and even a sports club for the hyperactive guest in search of a kitesurfing lesson or a kayak adventure. To top things off, Playa Azul frequently hosts live dj sessions, acoustic musical events and destination dream-weddings.

Yet all the Caribbean details aside, what’s truly unique about Playa Azul for me, is the undeniably Catalan influence in its ambience. Manifested into life by one of the hotel owners hailing from Barcelona, it feels as if Miró and Picasso reincarnated in Mexico and put together a perfectly laid-back Caribbean beach hotel. Exploring Playa Azul’s humorous and unrestrained collection of discarded objects repurposed for new use as furniture, lamps and chandeliers crafted out of otherwise useless glass bottles, and other curiosities hauled to Tulum from markets in Oaxaca, I often felt like I was on a photographic treasure hunt. The slideshow above includes some of my favorite finds from the shoot.

www.playaazultulum.com

When I first moved to Tulum, I couldn’t stop shooting sunsets. Now, two years later, I’m still shooting them. To mark the second anniversary of my tumultuous relationship with Mexico, I want to share this second installment of Tulum Sunsets series. And here is the first if you’d like to revisit.

In September, the ancient and beautiful city of Venice, Italy, inspired me to begin including cityscapes to my blog’s current photography repertoire. It often seems like another life, but before relocating to a small town of Tulum on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, I had always been an urban dweller. As such, the experience of suddenly living in close connection with nature drastically enhanced my understanding of our existence and its interconnectedness with the planet and entire universe. Therefore it’s not surprising that as a reaction, main focus of my photography during this time of enormous transition predominantly dealt with subjects directly or loosely connected to nature. Two years later, I’m getting used to the continuously changing sky and the ripple effect of that experience is now expanding my field of vision to focus on previously excluded urban subjects. With my new eyes I’m looking back at cities and trying to make sense of how I’ve changed.

It’s premature to say what shall be revealed in this process, though one thing is certain – I’m completely fascinated with cycles of light in urban spaces. From New York City, to Chicago, to Venice, to Brussels, to Bruges and Antwerp this fall, I noticed myself mostly paying attention to how depending on location of the city, its seasonal weather and structural patterns, the positioning and angle of the sun control the qualities of shadow, mood, culture and flow of local life itself… Incidentally, I think it’s quite appropriate to begin the series with my images of Venice, thus paying homage to the city whose natural lighting has inspired artists of every generation.