In 2010, I went to Antigua Guatemala with a camera wishing to photograph the processions during Lent. I did not know what I’d expect to get or even where to begin. As a child, my parents took me to see the processions in Guatemala City. The thought of how solemn they were always stuck in my mind.

As soon as I got out of the car I could feel the energy. Usually you have to park far from where the parade is going because of the crowds. The smells and light brought me back to when I was a kid. Immediately, I started to visualize what had made an impression on me as a child. That’s where I found a starting point about what to photograph.

I remember that first procession I wanted to photograph. I got to the street where it was passing through as it was going by. I was lucky though. These processional parades go on for hours and for the most part crisscross the whole town. So I decided to see what was going on from a far. Then I moved on to try to anticipate where I could meet up with the procession and get some images. Everywhere I turned up, the procession was either too far for me to get a good image or it was too crowded for me to get close enough to take a photograph. Suffice it to say that, because of the lack of planning, my first attempt to get photographs of the processions did not go so well. That day I learnt how important it is to scout locations and do some research on your subject before jumping in shutter clicking and snapping away. These processions happen every weekend throughout Lent and almost every day during Holy Week, so I knew I had a whole week to do my homework.

The following week I was ready. Had my map of the procession route and I had my locations sorted and times so that I could anticipate where to be to get my shots. One thing I hadn’t counted on was the amount of people that were viewing the parade and how early they arrived to wait for the procession would pass by. So even though I was where I wanted to be I had ended up all the way in the back of the crowd and not in a very good place to take viable images. It was time to regroup again.

They say that the third time is a charm. That week I had mapped out where I wanted to be and found my spot with plenty of time. I was the only one on the block and sat down to wait for the procession to pass by. It was all coming together. As the crowd began to gather. I learnt that I had to stand my ground and plant my feet where I wanted to be. I finally got my first photographs.

I was so proud of myself. It had taken three weeks to start to get a system down to how to photograph the processions.

Once I understood how the parades proceed, I could focus on the different aspects of the processions I wanted to highlight. What was to follow became the foundation to how I would photograph the processions for years to come. Every procession is different and they all have special nuances that over time I would learn to depict. This became my style which helped to launch my career as a photographer.

From the beginning of my work, the human element of the processions was always important. It was everywhere. From the elaboration of “carpets” that decorate the streets; to the costumes that the participants wear. To the religious images that they carry on large wooden floats. To the musicians that accompany the parade.

Through hard work, I was able to organize a collection which I showed in May 2010 at a café gallery in Guatemala City. Later, in 2011, I had the opportunity to show the same collection at the Vatican as a part of a year wide celebration of relations between Guatemala and the Holy See.

Here is some of the work from my collection “Actos de Fe”

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