Mexico - Assorted Photography - M1key - Michal Huniewicz

Mexico - Assorted by Michal Huniewicz

A bunch of assorted photos from Mexico - couple of themed galleries will follow.

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Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Uploaded on: 2016-03-12.

Chichén Itzá

Convento de San Antonio de Padua

Convento de San Antonio de Padua
On of the first Christian monasteries built in the Western Hemisphere, built by the Spanish.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/500s.

Dzibilchaltun

Dzibilchaltun
People swimming in a pond at the archaeological site of Dzibilchaltun.
ISO 200, 38mm, f/4.5, 1/160s.

Beggars

Beggars
Beggars at the doors of the Mérida Cathedral, one of the oldest cathedrals in the Americas. [1]
ISO 800, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/25s.

Mayan Ball Game

Mayan Ball Game
The goal of the game was to put the ball through that ring - without using your hands or feet, and the ball cannot touch the ground. Score - and you get sacrificed... [2]
ISO 200, 42mm, f/8.0, 1/500s.

Skull Rack

Skull Rack
It's unclear how bent on human sacrifice the Mayans (and other Mesoamerican peoples) were. Our view on their thirst for blood has been changing with various discoveries, and we used to consider them quite unwarlike about a hundred years ago, but that's supposedly changed now. In the photo, a skull rack (tzompantli), symbolising the skulls of those sacrificed to gods. Quoting wikipedia: "Human sacrifice on a large scale was introduced to the Maya by the Toltecs from the appearances of the tzompantli by the Chichen Itza ball courts." [3]
ISO 200, 48mm, f/7.1, 1/320s.

North Temple

North Temple
North Temple of Chichen Itza, a large pre-Colombian city built by the Maya people.
ISO 200, 62mm, f/7.1, 1/400s.

El Castillo

El Castillo
The Spanish called it the Castle, but it was actually a temple of Kukulcan. "During the spring and autumn equinoxes, the late afternoon sun strikes off the northwest corner of the pyramid and casts a series of triangular shadows against the northwest balustrade, creating the illusion of a feathered serpent 'crawling' down the pyramid." [4]
You used to be able to climb it, until a woman fell from it to meet hear death, and they closed it for everyone...
ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.

El Caracol

El Caracol
It has been suggested that this was an observatory - the observers could view the sky above the vegetation on the Yucatán Peninsula without any obstruction. [6]
ISO 200, 56mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s.

Towel

Towel
A towel (if I remember correctly) featuring the famous Mayan Calendar. Quoting NASA: "The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012." [5]
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/400s.

The Nunnery

The Nunnery
Our local guide told us how tolerant the Mayans were, how they pursued equality for women, how they "barely had any slaves at all". It turned out to be his partiotism more than factual information, after all. I find it a trend around the world that guides tell you what you want to hear, rather than the harsh truth.
ISO 200, 55mm, f/2.8, 1/2000s.

Return to the Convento

Return to the Convento
Coming back to the Convento. Perfectly aware of the photographic opportunity, I was chasing the nun with my camera in my hand.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/500s.

Xoloitzcuintli

Xoloitzcuintli
The Mesoamerican peoples (and the Spanish after their arrivals) used to eat these hairless dogs, stewed or roasted. Dogs are associated with death and have the job of leading people into the Underworld. [7]
ISO 200, 40mm, f/2.8, 1/160s.

No Estacionar

No Estacionar
In the city of Izamal.
ISO 200, 42mm, f/2.8, 1/2500s.

Pyramid of the Magician

Pyramid of the Magician
Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal
ISO 200, 70mm, f/9.0, 1/400s.

False Arch

False Arch
The Mesoamerican cultures never developed a keystone, hence only used fake arches, like this one (called Corbelled). [8]
ISO 200, 42mm, f/8.0, 1/320s.

Ammar

Ammar
My mate Ammar.
ISO 200, 55mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.

Steps

Steps
Steps.
ISO 200, 48mm, f/5.6, 1/800s.

Uxmal Pyramid

Uxmal Pyramid
Uxmal pyramid in the jungle.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/200s.

Ctenosaura

Ctenosaura
Ctenosaura, therefore I took a photo of a dinosaur, how about that?
ISO 200, 36mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.

Man vs. Pyramid

Man vs. Pyramid
Ammar trying to beat the people to the top of the pyramid, as I was encouraging him in a friendly manner.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s.

House of the Doves

House of the Doves
The House of the Doves.
ISO 200, 42mm, f/8.0, 1/250s.

Hacienda Jesus

Hacienda Jesus
Jesus, looking rather local, and not blonde and blue-eyed, like what he really looked like, or so I was told.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000s.

Hacienda Gate

Hacienda Gate
Beautiful gate to the hacienda. What blew my mind was that it is essentially Middle Eastern architecture, brough to Spain with the Moors, and the to Mexico with the Spanish.
ISO 200, 44mm, f/6.3, 1/80s.

Cactus

Cactus
Cactus in Teotihuacán.
ISO 200, 32mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s.

The Gringo

The Gringo
Ammar mocking local culture and customs.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/800s.

Dorota

Dorota
My friend Dorota in Teotihuacán.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600s.

Laura

Laura
My friend Laura in Teotihuacán.
ISO 200, 38mm, f/2.8, 1/800s.

Coming Soon - Day of the Dead

Coming Soon - Day of the Dead
Coming Soon - Day of the Dead! The primary reason why I went to Mexico.
ISO 640, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/30s.

Coming Soon - Las Patronas

Coming Soon - Las Patronas
Coming Soon - Las Patronas. The women who save illegal migrants in Mexico.
ISO 200, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/3200s.

Coming Soon - The Shaman of the Monkey Island

Coming Soon - The Shaman of the Monkey Island
Coming Soon - The Shaman of the Monkey Island. We will be casting spells in a pre-Colombian town in the jungle.
ISO 1600, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/30s.

Olivia

Olivia
Finally, my friend Olivia in my favourite pose! I'm beginning to think it should be named after me...
ISO 800, 5mm, f/2.0, 1/20s. Phone photo.

Bonus Photo

Bonus Photo
Arriba, arriba!
ISO 200, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/2000s.