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OLD AND UNCHANGING is Zimapan, TOO miles north of Mexico City on Route 1. Note the luminous shadows in the market scene, the relaxed ease of vendors.
LET'S MAKE IT
MEXICO!
GEORGIA ENGELHARD
MY husband and I are photographers — working photographers, that is. In fact, we sometimes say (only to ourselves, of course) that we are hard-working photographers. Thus it is that as the gray, chill weeks of January and February plod drearily onward, we find ourselves looking for some new and sunny land on which to turn our lenses.
Last winter we chose Mexico for our busman's holiday. We had heard glowing reports of this country — of its color, warmth, grace and friendliness. We had heard too of its strong levels
Photographs by Georgia Engelhard
COLORFUL AND CROWDED is Xochimilco, once the capital of Aztec emperors, now the flower-bedecked mecca of Mexicans and touristas alike.
of contrast — the modern culture of the capital and the Spanish colonial aura of old Taxco; the tourist luxury of Acapulco and the native simplicity of, say, Patzcuaro. To cover all of Mexico's many-sided life with a camera, it seemed to us, might be the work of a year or more. And we had but a month.
Pictorially, therefore, we decided to concentrate. It was the old Mexico which appealed to us, so that we passed most of our available time in such communities as Cuernavaca, Zimapan, Taxco, Patzcuaro and San Luis Potosi. For your own best results, for continuity and coherence in your Mexican movie making, we would urge you also to specialize — old or new, as you wish.
SEASON IN THE SUN And now a few travel tips. The best time to visit Mexico is in February and March, before the sweltering rainy season starts. Early in the year the days are warm and dry, the nights invariably cool. And, generally speaking, sunlight for picture taking is not a problem, because there is plenty of it. But there is one catch to this season of the year: Don't travel during Holy Week! Stay where you are, for during this period all Mexico goes on a traveling spree. Rooms are impossible to get, banks and travel agencies are closed, and you even may be unable to get an American Express cheque cashed. Although it is not essential, some knowledge of Spanish is helpful. We found the American Automobile Association's handbook Mexico by Motor a good aid. Supplementing this with a Spanish grammar, we could soon carry on conversation sufficient for everyday needs.
GETTING ALONG Mexican people are very courteous and well mannered. Even the ragged peons who live in rude hovels of adobe, thatch and brick have a certain dignity and reserve, which frequently makes them resentful of tourists who try to photograph them. Our greatest difficulty, in fact, was in getting closeups of these folk; they are dreadfully camera shy, and many of them would scurry into their huts, hide their faces or turn their backs the moment that they saw our movie cameras.