Ave Maria – Oaxaca Street Photos – Oaxaca, Mexico- Somewhere in Time.

Somewhere In Time is a weekly travel photo from around the world. Enjoy!

Ave Maria | Oaxaca Street Photos – Oaxaca, Mexico

There is no shortage of affection in Mexico, which is probably one of the reasons I love it so much.

If you’ve been following Beers and Beans for a while, you might have seen this photo before. It’s from our trip in 2009 to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Oaxaca, Mexico. I was going through some photo files last week and saw it. I realized I never highlighted it the way it deserves to be highlighted, so I pulled it out for inclusion in the Somewhere In Time series. I almost got angry with myself for not including it earlier because this is Somewhere in Time – this is THE moment.

It was only a year and a half ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. In fact this entire trip had a very profound effect on me. In the short 5 days we spent in Oaxaca, I went through all the travel roller coaster emotions – from having a huge emotional reaction (read: crying my eyes out) to the festivities in the cemeteries to drinking tequila and becoming friends with our hostel mate, Jasmine. (BTW, check out her blog, Wander With Purpose – she’s awesome). I was also asked in the cemetery by some local women to photograph the graves of their loved ones – which was a huge honor. If you ever have the chance to visit Oaxaca for Dia de los Muertos you should go. Oaxaca is a stunning city, with a bustling town square (called the Zocolo) and the festival is beautiful in so many ways. Go! Go! You’ll love it, I swear.

This photo was taken during the week of the festival right along the Zocolo. Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca (Oaxaca Cathedral) is in the background and it is a very old & beautiful church. It is well known for it’s facade which has an ornate relief of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The original church was built in the 1500’s, I believe the one we see today was built in the 1700’s and at that time it was re-dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It is rumored that the bell rings on its own. I’m not sure how true this is but I love the idea of it anyway.

During the festival week all sorts of things go down at the Zocolo – there are altars, parades, dances, musicians and sand paintings. The sand paintings are vast (a lot larger than what you see in this photo) and they are all done in front of the church. With the balloon vendors, giggling girls and strolling lovers – people watching in the Zocolo is out of control. You could spend days doing it. I know because we did.

This spot was hopping. I was walking around the area just watching events unfold around me and taking it all in. I saw people stopping over and over again looking at the sand paintings, just like Randy and I had done moments before. To top it off, there was the Mexican love oozing out of every crevice in the square. If you have spent any amount of time in Mexico you can see this love all around you. The people of Mexico are very amorous and since Dia de los Muertos is a huge festival in Oaxaca (I was told even bigger than Christmas) it seems to bring out all the love in everyone.

I took a lot of street photos in this area just walking around shooting discretely, hoping for a moment like this. Although to be honest, I never thought I would get one this good. I spotted this couple and it was like the seas parted just as they were about to kiss. It was a perfect, clear shot – no one in front of them and I had the added bonus in the movement of the people walking nearby. Then there was the pink & red hue flowing from each woman to the next throughout the photo – what luck that all the colors were so similar! To top it off there was a lot of passion in this kiss, much more than I expected.

In this brief second the anticipation of something amazing about to happen was almost too great.

I think I gasped aloud when I looked at this photo after I took it and that doesn’t happen very often. It was a quick shot and there were so many ways it could have been ruined but it wasn’t. It was just perfect. It was almost as if this moment was determined to have its photo taken and have its story told – all under Mary’s watchful eye.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

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