Our setting, San Miguel de Allende, is a Unesco World Heritage Site rich in history and authentic Mexican culture. Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is simultaneously a very personal yet widely celebrated Mexican tradition that can be traced back to a pre-Columbian past. Integrating both Catholic and indigenous traditions, the Day of the Dead is easily one of the Mexico’s most fascinating and well-known festivals. This three-day celebration that includes Halloween, Día los Niños, and All Souls’ Day is filled with a variety of time-honored traditions.
Join Ed Kashi and Andrea Wallace for a week-long workshop with AndersonRanch in San Miguel. You will have the opportunity to experience, document, and immerse yourself in San Miguel’s famed Day of the Dead rituals– a feast for the visual senses. Whether it’s a series of streets portraits, an exploration of local cuisine and architecture, you will be encouraged to discover a subject that speaks to a personal passion and document it in a compelling and unique visual style.
In addition to photographing in San Miguel, we visit nearby small communities to experience the authentic traditions from an intimate perspective including preparation of altars in homes and cemeteries.
This workshop focuses on how to create a personal documentary project in a land of rich culture, and infinite photographic opportunities. Ed works personally with students in the field. The workshop includes individual and group reviews, personal assignments and lots of fun. Our aim is to raise our awareness and spark our creativity so that we return home not only with images to be proud of, but with new-found skills to improve and expand our overall photographic technique. We strike a balance between fieldwork and critiques and the freedom to explore and photograph this spectacular region.