Category Archives: Mexico

Blackbirds singing, cawing, whatever, in the dead of night

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Conference of Rooks

Blackbirds, rooks, crow, ravens…whatever you call them, these birds are almost a trope in contemporary art, reminiscent of a Victorian Goth aesthetic. They are often considered ill omens. Unless, that is, they frequent your Mexican doorstep, twice the size of any normal birds, chattering away. You have to get used to them. Here in Playa del Carmen, at any rate, there are only rooks rather than the enormous turkey vultures that used to buzz around the patio in Merida. These two videos from the New York art fairs this past March capture how noisy these birds can be.


Kristof Kintera at Jiri Svestka Gallery, Armory 2010

Personally, I’ve had the creeps over birds ever since seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds years ago. Moving to New York city and being surrounded by pigeons as clean as rats didn’t help my aversion. The turkey buzzards probably made it worse, and now a neighborhood rooster wakes me up around 6 every morning. I am not fond of birds.

What is it about these fellows that captures the imagination anyhow?

Such Great Heights

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can be scary looking down.


Especially if you have a fear of heights that the idea of a rope hanging down the side of steep, ancient steps on the open face of a 15 story building can’t quite reconcile. Coba is one of the last Mayan pyramids that visitors can climb. At least they have a rope.

Cenotes…

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are difficult to photograph.


You walk down a spiral staircase 40 or 50 feet, and walk out in this egg-shaped cave half full of water. The artificial lighting casts shadows on the crevices in the limestone and the stalactites drip into the crystal clear water.


The water is so clear, it’s hard to imagine that the rocks you see so clearly are 30 feet below the surface.



So you take multiple photos, trying to capture the effect.


Once again, you curse yourself for not buying some really expensive, nice camera before you started this long adventure. You think of all the shots you missed over the last few months of traveling. Then you jump in the cold water and swim with the black, eyeless fishies.