Nope, not a bride and groom picture, this delicate act of chivalry is her chambelán, dance partner, assisting la quinceanera, a girl's fifteenth birthday, out of the carriage, in La Habana, Cuba, where the tradition is still practiced despite the fact that Cuba is a secular state. Catholicism is the largest organzied religion in Cuba, however, in 1962, Fidel Castro closed nearly all 400 Catholic schools claiming that they were teaching dangerous beliefs.
At a temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodians celebrate the Khmer New Year with 3-days of festivities. On the third day, buddha is washed with water. A couple of days ago, I headed out to Siem Reap with writer, Fiona MacGregor, and stumbled upon a community festival for the new year holiday. i'll show those pictures in the next post.
At a buddhist temple near the waterfront of Phnom Penh, a monk leads a chant to encourage rain to come for agriculture in front of an alter of grains and fruit.
and then the rain came...
Probably the most colorful classroom i've been in...the walls painted a chalky blue and the afternoon light pouring in from the side window as two schools girls in arabic class singing a Lebanese pop song at an Islamic boarding school in Banda Aceh.
summer is just creepy along....but its now finally august.
Napa's local Jewish community celebrates the 60th Anniversary of Israel......
"Israel"
"Pioneer"
Beard trimming: "Theodor Herzl would not look like a cave man."
Backstage of "This is your life Israel."
A little Israeli folk dancing in the synagogue -
I'm not sure why I thought the peace walk was about Burmese Monks walking across the golden gate bridge...but i suppose it was an esoteric way of doing it in spirit, afterall, the walk was in support of the monks who are in hiding, incarcerated and abused by the govt in Burma. Ah some things are just not so literal like photographing Burmese Monks walking across the Bridge. Instead, hundreds of supporters and a monk did do the walk. as did a couple dozen photographers. while the purpose is significant, the hoards of photographers make it seem ridiculous. anyway, i was one of them. here's some from yesturday morning...
This one is my favorite - the cityscape in the background...
(pls remember that all pictures on this blog cannot be downloaded or published in any way, shape or form. pls contact me!)
Tuesday evening I covered the annual Feast of Guadalupe play performed by a young adult ministry at St. John's Church. Then early Wed. morning, I woke at 4am to shoot Las Mananitas where hundreds of devoted people of the Virgin of Guadalupe sang songs.
Guadalupe appears to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego -
The "Spanish Bishop" ties his cloak before the play -
The performers get ready before the play -
The performers pray before going on stage -
Las Mananitas -
