6ª Avenida Norte, n° 9C Photo

Photographer’s Note

Yes, i well know, this scanned picture have big problem of quality, it's a bit overexposed on the upper part and it's lost light and tones, specially the yellow ones.
I know.

But i love that image, as i love that small city in the central Guatemala.
With Siena and Hoi An (Vietnam), Antigua is one of my favorite small cities of the world.

We went there two times in the summer 1995, before the great work of renovation that the UNESCO and other organisations did in the past 10, 12 years.
The wonderful colonial buildings had yet the signs of the times, the facades of the main churches have the dirt and the dust of the past centuries over.
The clock of the Arco de Santa Catalina, the one in this image, was still broken from decades, the fantastic cloister and the fountain on the back of the Merced Cathedral were still partialy collapsed, and inside, under the arches lived some campesinos families.

Yes, there were many pubs and bars for tourists, there were some Spanish School for Foreigner, there was the market for tourist, but the mood of the city was different than the one of this days.
There weren't high level hotels. Just posadas or guesthouses.

We slpeeped everytime in a wonderful old monastry transformed in a fantastic guesthouse for 5 dollars per night, we payed half dollar for a cuba libre in the bars (and we spent too many dollars...).

And finally we found a fantastic guy...normally I like eat local food.
I'm not the one that like eat Japanese food in Mexico or French food in Hong Kong...but that time after 1 month and a half of the same 5 dishes (central American food is good, but there isn't a so large number of different preparations...) we found an Italian Restaurant, called "Da Martedino".
We didn't had a good lunch, normal one, but we had a fantastic experience.

We met there Martedino, the owner of the restaurant.
He was a man of 80 years old, or more.
He spoke a terrifiant old Italian, with a half part of a not well identified south Italian dialect and with some Maya and some Spanish words inside....a terrifiant patois!
We understood just a part of his words!

He told us all his life.
ALL! An entire afternoon spent on his restaurant on a XVII° Century cloister along one of the main road of Antigua, drinking good Italian red wines.
He was born in the Puglie and emigrated from South Italy to Milan when i was child with the parents, then when he was 16 years old or similar he migrated again to Uruguay, Brasil, Argentina and finally in Guatemale: Antigua. In the 40's.
He told us that he was the only one foreigner in the whole Antigua and that he opened the first real restaurant. He married 2 different local girl and he had several sons and daughters.
He lived the entire second half of XX° century in a small village of Guatemala, the CIA golpe of 1954, the 30 years of civil war, the URNG terrorist attack...

I think that he was dead few years later.
I red that the restaurant Da Martedino still was opened in the 2003, i don't know nothing about the food!
i found 2 different adress....maybe Martedino he still alive!

6ª avenida norte No. 9C
7ª avenida norte No. 44

*Scanned image*

danyy, ChrisJ, chiaretta, papagolf21, DzULA, PixelTerror, Gerrit, jlbrthnn, kiwi_explorer, leo61, alexxiou has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ChrisJ (70299) 2008-02-15 1:36

Ciao Paolo

Still worth posting, imho. It looks like an aquarelle water painting. I like the volcano looming up through the clouds. Tfs!

JanD (14927) 2008-02-15 1:39

Howdy Paolo!
Amazing POV. Wonderful perspective. Fantastic street. Good capture. Very original work.
Regards!

smarcell (14373) 2008-02-15 1:43

Bellissima questa atmosfera sonnolenta tipica del centro america. Una strada semideserta, un po' di edifici fatiscenti, e la montagna tra le nuvole nello sfondo.
Esattamente come uno si immagina certi paesi dell'america latina nel primo pomeriggio.
ciao Stefano

pastadog (12821) 2008-02-15 1:43

Ciao Paolo, very attractive shot of the colorful street including that structure that bridges between the two sides... the highlight is the volcano up there... I have to check my files, I believe I tried something similar at this exact location, but the volcano was very elusive due to the clouds or fog... cheers :) Daniel

chiaretta (1933) 2008-02-15 1:45

Ciao Paolo,
non so, forse la grana della scansione, ma mi sembra che abbia davvero un fascino particolare. Come fosse una cartolina d'altri tempi! Sarà anche la bici, che da ieri ricorre in alcune discussioni e che effettivamente possiede, passando leggera e sottile, una grazia e una vitalità proprie...
Antigua... non ci sono mai stata ma mi ricorda un romanzo che ho amato della Serrano dove si parla di amicizia e di ritrovare se stessi... ritrovo in questa foto alcune sensazioni di quella lettura.
CHiara

Nicou (45003) 2008-02-15 1:47

Salut Paolo,

mangigique caedare et prondeur sur cette image, le beau pavagek, le cycliste et l'arche en fond, superbe, belle ambianc qui reflète parfaitement ce pays.

Bravo et amitiés

Nicou

papagolf21 (56467) 2008-02-15 1:53

Bonjour, mon ami Paolo,
Vieille photographie qui n'a rien perdu de son charme. J'aime beaucoup l'ambiance dégagée par cette composition.
Merci pour la note très documentée.
Une belle réussite et que de souvenirs !
Amitiés.
Philippe

DzULA (838) 2008-02-15 1:56

Great photo, OLD SCHOOL, very nice of you for sharing this part of the world, lovelu old road and architecture

Greetings
DzULA

aadilj (17950) 2008-02-15 1:56

wonderful perspective and a superb use of the depth here with superb grains and textures and lovely colours. I like the overall feel of the composition

PixelTerror (86234) 2008-02-15 2:00

Ciao Paolo,
This ius true that this photo can not compete with our moder digital standards. However I like its historical value and the composition idea is fine, even the few parked cars look old enough. You could just have waited a second to detach the cyclist from the car.
It is not allowed to do this on TE, but if your want to improve the photo for yourself you could replace the awful sky of this one by a better one.
Have a nice day JY

jonathan_hart (22578) 2008-02-15 2:03

hi Paolo
POV & framing excellent, good overall composition, with the bad quality it looks like a hardly post processed image, with a 'like a painting' filter, charming
regards
jo

stefanocer (10408) 2008-02-15 3:09

La qualità non importa più di tanto Paolo , è un a bella foto uscita dall'archivio che ci dà una visione molto interessante di questa cittadina , ottima composizione e la presenza della jeep è azzeccata , complimenti.
Stefano.

Burberry1 (6041) 2008-02-15 4:19

Interesting and attracted the eye place!!!
I would really love to go there one day!

Kind regards from Poland
Agnieszka

Gerrit (35811) 2008-02-15 4:29

Hi Paolo,
The cobbled street, de cyclist, the clocktower, the ruin, the enormous vulcano: a complete image of this wonderful city. The emptiness gives a retrofeel.
Very good picture,
regards, Gerrit

mirarer (4373) 2008-02-15 4:39

Hola Paolo,
Además de una excelente composición creo que esta foto destaca por esa atmósfera intemporal y decadente. Bonitos tonos pasteles.
Saludos,
Mirari

Budapestman (42084) 2008-02-15 5:01

Hi Paolo,
Fascinating daily life shot its so than a painting. I like the splendid composition and the perspective, Great! Have a nice weekend
George

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-02-15 7:43

Ciao Paolo

Despite having been scanned, this picture keeps nuances of high quality, which nearly resemble a watercolor painting.

The composition is very pleasant, typical sites and streets of our Latin American countries. A good scenario, with a great balance.

John

brandstaetter (14198) 2008-02-15 8:15

Ciao Paolo,
penso che la qualita´ dello scan va molto bene insieme col ritratto di questa citta´. L´ impressione e´ quella degli anni 50 o 60, anche perche´e´ quasi vuota di macchine. Molto appropriato ! Mi piace !
Ciao Christian

trekks (14320) 2008-02-15 8:47

Hi Paolo

I find the photo quite an interesting pov and composition to have the street directing to the mountain at far end. A good capture, regardless of scan quality or faded color or resolution.

Nice work.

TFs, bill

carper (64962) 2008-02-15 10:07

marvelous shot Paolo,
fantastic perspective, well seen, the light is good and the details are super in a good composiktion, good used the 1/3 rule, very nice weekend.
gr. jaap

resato (428) 2008-02-15 16:52

Ciao Paolo,
Sono cresciuto in questo paese, che una volta era ancora un paradiso per turisti e
molto più sicuro e tranquillo di quanto lo è oggi per qualsiasi persona. Sei stato li nel '95. In quella epoca la situazione già era cambiata abbastanza. Oggi non riconosceresti Antigua, perche ha perso completamente il carattere tranquillo e magico che una volta aveva.
Da bambino andavamo con i miei genitori la domenica a fare visita ai amici nei patios delle bellissime case coloniali e a passeggiare
per le strade piene di ricordi, fiori, profumi e silenzio, alle volte interrotto dai suoni di marimba. Prima di ritornare a Guate, comperavamo i dulces antigüeños, doppo aver mangiato qualche piatto tipico.
Ho fatto concerti in questa città e il mio maestro di chittarra viveva anche qua prima di dovere andarsene all'esilio politico.
Abbiamo conosciuto tanti mitici italiani, venuti a vivere e a lavorare in questo paese, che avevano una vita da racontarti. Mia madre anche è italiana.
Comunque grazie per questo scatto e storia che mi ha portato un]ondata di ricordi carissimi e magici della mia infanzia e gioventù.
René

danyy (68947) 2008-02-16 0:12

Bonjour Paolo,
très jolie rue presque désertée par les voitures et je dirais que le présence de cette jeep en devient cocasse.
Une rue très longue, prise avec beaucoup de perspective, une excellent profondeur à cette photo bien nette et exposée.
Un tout bon week-end.
Daniel.

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-02-16 21:05

Hi Paolo,
Good choice of a vertical format to compliment the leading line of the road which leads ones view to the misty mountain. Good quality considering this is from a scanned image. Well captured and composed. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

manada (6237) 2008-02-16 22:11

Ciao Paolo
di posti ne hai visti tanti, basta guardare la tua gallery....
ma questa, grazie alla nota, si capisce che ti ha preso di più ed è bello che tu condivida le emozioni con chi ti segue.
Quindi non si può non ringraziarti e cercare di immedesimarsi immaginando di camminare su questa ruvida stradina laggiù nel Guatemala
Buona domenica
Freddy

leo61 (43438) 2008-02-17 1:51

Hi Paolo!
13 years old but still good.Great POV and amazing depth.I like the contrast between the "blue" street and the pastel colored houses.
Regards,Leo

jlbrthnn (38133) 2008-02-17 2:23

Bonsoir Paolo,
ho letto con molto interesse il resoconto della vostra avventura e della ta riunione incredibile in Guatemala. Sono per te memorie superbes e capisco molto bene che attribuisci molta importanza a questa fotografia. Ha passi di vecchia cartolina, maggio ha un incanto immenso. Bravo congratulazioni.
Buona sera e buona domenica.
Amicalement
Joël

John_F_Kennedy (31511) 2008-02-18 0:33

One of the most scenic and beautiful alley I have ever seen. I always love to see the amazing architecture in these old cities. Well captured.
Best wishes,
Achim

sebinho342 (18740) 2008-02-18 5:37

Hi Paolo, i'm sure you know that there are some technical problems with this old negative, you are experimentated enough to know it yourself ;)
But i won't talk technically but artistically, this is for sure a marvelous place on earth, when i first went to mexico my french "guide du routard" was "yucatan-belize-guatemala" and i read a lot of this place, guatemala, and antigua was describe with marvelous words, near lake attitlan as far as i remember.
So exotic picture, i would love to go there once in my life :)

brevbrev14 (372) 2008-02-19 1:59

ciao Paolo, bella la tua nuova intro...
certo che hai viaggiato!! :))
come sta la bimba?
mi piace molto la foto...una composizione semplice ma ben inquadrata e catturata..
ciao!
Valeria

alexxiou (72) 2008-02-22 6:57

I love this picture ! It seems a bit unreal, out of time. The colours are fantastic.
Well done !
Alex

Anna-- (7739) 2008-02-27 11:00

Ciao Paolo,
veramente interessante questa vecchia foto con una bellissima atmosfera e colori leggeri. Ottima scena e prospettiva
Buona serata
Anna

abulafia (4802) 2008-03-14 9:02

Hi Paolo
I just had a look at your intro, and boy do you get around:)
I really like this picture, I know it isn't perfectly sharp, but it looks so peaceful and charming, definitely a place I would like to visit.
Thanks, also for the note:)
Harry

npecanhuk (14058) 2008-07-16 6:04

Hi Paolo!
That's one place I'd love to visit! I love volcanoes and this town so close to that volcano is very nice!
You picture has a great pov and there's an effect that makes it look sort of old... I like it!
TFS - Congratulations!
Saluti da Brasile!
Neyvan Peçanhuk