This series of photographs was created in 2017 for an exhibition in the Berkshires, Massachusetts called "A Child's World". It was a perfect venue for me to discover how I'v been drawn to photographing children, not only in my own family but in my travels.
Adornment in a cemetary in real de catorce, mexico
Most were taken over the years in various parts of Mexico as well as Havana, Cuba and Albuquerque, New Mexico. A couple of the early ones include the girl below with the immense umbrella. Just while walking down a narrow, cobblestoned street in San Miguel de Allende. I captured her with a pink umbrella larger than her. Not a cloud in sight...
Then, down a small alley was this boy looking out his door.
This is all about the world of the child in all its freshness, joys and innocence. It's also about sorrow, poverty, solitude, loss and no matter where you are in the world: the trials and tribulations of growing up, let alone surviving as a baby lying on a street testifies below.
With her wistful gaze, the “Girl in a Blue Mask” conveys that all is not is rosy.
A girl on a Pacific beach releasing baby turtles; an infant lying on a street with her mother around the corner selling tortillas; twins outside our door in San Miguel de Allende.
In a visit to a church last Easter Sunday, I came across this plastic baby in a glass box all with pesos and a dollars strewn about. Most probably baby Jesus even though it was Christmas...
Deeply touching was my walk through a crowded graveyard in Real de Catorce, a former silver mine turned ghost town high in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. This is where I came across a few childrens' tombstones. The most elaborate one included a young girl remembered with her immaculate white dress and pink ribbon (most probably changed every year), a tin drum, toys, baby bottles and even a jar of baby food. Most heart-breaking to me was her baby doll lying on the soil amidst plastic flowers.
Of course, adults are not excluded from a child's world. Below: "Taking a Break" Havana, Cuba; "Ballooning", Albuquerque, New Mexico. And my favorite of all: "Dos Hermanas y Su Papa" (Two Sisters and their Father), San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Napoli kids
