City of Warriors

In the state of Coahuila is a municipality called Guerrero. It's a small city, with less than one thousand inhabitants. Even such a small city, it's filled with lots of beautiful and bright colors that are well known to the south-west culture in Mexico.

Guerrero is a surname that means warrior. These small municipalities are home to a large number of Roman Catholics and even though the state of Coahuila has over two million citizens, given the size of the state that only equals out to be 15 people per square kilometer. While that may seem small, Coahuila is home to the country's largest coal reserves and the state's capital Saltillo also has a growing automobile industry with plants for both General Motors and Chrysler.

Los Colores de Coahuila

Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico, May 2007

I've resumed work on my forthcoming book, Los Colores de Coahuila.  Stop by here for details on the release date.

Los Colores de Coahuila

 Dam reservoir along the Rio Grande

Presa La Amistad, Coahuila, Mexico, April 2001

The one thing I learned from A. Aubrey Bodine's spectacular photography of Baltimore and Maryland's Eastern Shore, is that a great photographer can never leave home, yet show us the world.  I have been in Minnesota three years, and still I cannot develop an affinity for the place.  (That's not to detract from Minnesota as photographic subject - Chris Faust has done wonders with the Gopher State).

This is where my heart is, the Mexican state of Coahuila.

I shot this exposure on one of the greatest films ever, Kodachrome 64.  Sadly, it is gone now.  

 

Ali Sifuentes

Painting of Kentucky Fried Chicken on U.S. Route 14, Rochester, Minnesota

by artist Ali Sifuentes

Often when I eat at a fast food restaurant, I walk by and glance at the "art" many of them hang on their walls, from the annoying "inspiration" posters, to faded advertisements from the 1990s, all ensconced in those annoying metallic-gold lacquer plastic frames.

But, while stopping by the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Rochester, a picture actually did catch my eye. I thought, "who dreamt up the advertising ploy to paint a KFC restaurant a la Edward Hopper, all full of alarming hues and chiaroscuro? Someone on Madison Avenue knows what they're doing!"

But, on closer inspection, I saw that the painting was an original, and not some high-quality reproduction. I inquired about the artist. It turns out the artist is one Ali Sifuentes, a 20 year-old painter who works the fryers and the drive-thru at this particular restaurant. The painting is a gift he made to the restaurant.

Although my Motorola Z6C cheap camera phone can't do justice to the tonal balance, and the brush and putty-knife strokes, here is a somewhat acceptable photograph of the painting. Ali hails from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which is a border city across the Rio Grande from Texas.  When I mentioned the painting had a cinematic perspective and Edward Hopper feel, he smiled, and told me that was precisely the effect he was going for. Along with Hopper, he is a follower of Dali.  He has only been painting for two years, so until he was 18, Sifuentes must have had all this latent talent building up. Soft-spoken, and of diminutive stature, Sifuentes seems to be one of those artists who pays a lot of attention to the dull surroundings the rest of us take for granted, transforming them into something magical and arresting.

New Book Launch: Los Colores de Coahuila

Guitarist, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, March 2001

As Garish: Roadside Polaroids goes through its final tweaks and polishing, as it goes to press in the Fall, I am pleased to announce work has begun on my next volume, Los Colores de Coahuila, my excursion through the cities and villages of the Mexican frontier state of Coahuila, along the Texas border.

Juan Torrescano, in his essay for the book, comments, 

Robert Jones declares he does not want to use his images as a "deep" philosophical vehicle, nor does he want to concentrate on historical subject matters, but his images speak precisely to these topics (but without the verbiage to get in the way of his imagery): The aged troubadour, who dexterously strums his lira to please his improvised clients, the popsicle vendor who tirelessly runs through the broken pavements and alleyways with the desire to exhaust his goods, the proud rancher who places his hopes in the next season's harvest -- not to mention the spotted furious cock ready to enter into battle. The colorful juggling street clown in full attire, the snapshot of the smiling family, and what about the fortezza vecchia of the National Emblem, the effigy of the Patron Virgin of Mexicans? The flower vendors who avidly conquer their lady with a beautiful bouquet, as well as the figures of San Martin De Porres, the elderly woman, the barber, and the emerging mysterious gardener, the fresh fruit vendor, the roses in the church atrium, as well as the tower, and the stained glass windows. Or the scenes of  dogs and felines lounging in the sun, and the wide range of multicolored, stripped and weathered facades, doors, and windows. All this -- for the people of the border -- is a standing ovation. It gives integrity to a bland environment of brick walls  without decoration, or older houses that speak only of their abandonment. 

The tentative launch date for Los Colores de Coahuila is Spring 2012.

Los Colores de Coahuila

Piedras Negras, Coahuila, March 1999

Any urban or even small town landscape in Coahuila would be incomplete without telephone and power lines to establish the image's geometry.  

Los Colores de Coahuila

Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, April 2002

Coca-Cola may be American, but it is ubiquitous in Mexico.  Not for nothing was their previous president, Vicente Fox, also president of Coca-Cola before being elected national leader.

This one is for a photographer now vacationing in Galicia, who's on a similar wavelength.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Piedras Negras, Coahuila, March 2000

Two things that are the mark of a real man, whether in Mexico or Texas, are cowboy boots and hats.  I chanced upon this shop in Piedras Negras a decade ago, but was unsatisfied with the snapshot I got back from the drugstore.

As it turned out, they didn't know how to print from Kodak's Vericolor III film.  I finally scanned the negative recently, and found the images turned out quite beautiful.

Angeles Verdes

Somewhere on Carreteria 29, Coahuila, November 2002

In Mexico, if your automobile ever breaks down, just telephone Angeles Verdes (Green Angels).  Just dial 078!

Los Colores de Coahuila

Mothers and Children, Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, April 2002

These women are the wives and girlfriends of men detained in the city jail in the city of Acuña in Coahuila.  I was introduced to them by my dear friend and guardian angel, Paulina Sanchez.  Whether imprisoned justly or not, these women's men were languishing in jail for want of an attorney.

So, they wait in vigil outside city hall in protest, hoping that the mayor will grant clemency. While I cannot know whether justice was dealt or not, I certainly sympathize with their predicament.

One year before taking this photograph, I had spent time in the jail at the police station in Acuña.  I had been photographing along the main drag, near the border crossing into Del Rio when I passed by a grade school.  As I was taking pictures of street life with my Ricoh, when the kids behind the fence playing at recess asked me to take their picture, I did.  Five minutes later, the police picked me up and took me to the local police station.  

As it turned out, a child had been kidnapped from that school but one month before.  The suspect was a tall gringo who took the boy's photograph the day before.  Apparently, I was suspected of planning to do the same.

By God's grace, a woman named Paulina Sanchez was on her way home for lunch, following about fifty feet behind me.  She went to the police station as a witness on my behalf, and went to the U.S. side of the border to make telephone calls to everyone I knew to call the Acuña police to get me out.  After a long wait in the drunk tank -- which smelled of urine -- the police chief let me go.  My Army administrator called and informed him I was a legitimate military photojournalist.

I've heard it said that street photographers haven't made it until they've been arrested for the "crime" of taking pictures.  Perhaps, but I really don't want to go through it again.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Ruta Fiscal 57, near Progreso, Coahuila, November 2007

Mexicans have a sophisticated way of appreciating color, by integrating it with buildings' architecture, in this case a bodega.  A common sight throughout the country, houses and businesses transformed into billboards make even the simplest of structures appear warm and inviting.  This yellow/white/red color scheme is emblematic of Carta Blanca beer.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Villa Hidalgo, Coahuila, April 2001

Villa Hidalgo is a small hamlet near the Colombia border crossing, just north of Laredo, Texas.  I had visited Piedras Negras and Sabinas earlier in the week, and ran through about twenty rolls of film.  For this project, I was using Agfa's high-sautration HDC, Vista, and Optima II print films.  I ran out of film prior to visiting Villa Hidalgo, and found some store brand film at a Pemex convenience store on the way back towards the border (Pemex is the national chain of petrol service stations in Mexico).  

I got such beautiful results with this film, I was simply astonished at the brilliance and saturation of the colors, as well as the over luminance of the resulting prints.  On the box, it stated it was made in Italy, and after some research I found that the company that manufactures this film is Ferrania.

One of the joys of being a film photographer is that trying out a new roll of film, never before used, is always an event.  Even today, while digital photography rules the roost and all experimentation with an image takes place on a computer screen, new emulsions are issued periodically, and I'm always first to try them out.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Piedras Negras, Coahuila, March 2000

This photograph is from one of my first excursions into Coahuila, in the border city of Piedras Negras.  It incorporates two of my favorite subject matters for photography: Peeling paint and telephone lines.  This mural advertisement was found on the side of an abandoned car repair garage, and if you look closely, you can make out that it is for Castrol GT motor oil. I think.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Stations of the Cross, No. 8

Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church,

Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, c. April 2000

Even the shadows in the Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church, built in 1958, follow the building's Cubist architectural forms.  In this sculpture, depicting Christ's visit with the daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus's humanity is simply depicted with grace and beauty.

Rediscovered Negatives: Los Colores de Coahuila

Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church, 
Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, c. April 2000

While I wouldn't mind leaving a legacy comparable to that of Garry Winogrand, hopefully part of that legacy will not be leaving more than 2,500 rolls of film undeveloped by the time of my passing.

At present, I have around 100 or so, and I am currently sending off my C-41 35mm to the lab for development.  The first roll came back today, and it was an old roll of the Agfa Optima II 100 film I had shot in the Mexican frontier city of Acuña.  

There are a few excellent shots on the roll, and this photograph of a friar's statue is my favorite.  It is quite difficult to take natural light photographs indoors on slow film, but the Agfa films of the past decade captured the color balance beautifully, allowing a full tonal range as well.

I miss Mexico.  It is where my photographer's soul resides, particularly in Coahuila, where the drab monotony of the caliche is relieved by building after building painted in lush primary colors.

Welcome to Robert Jones Photo

Hello, everybody. I created this blog as a companion to my website, www.robertjonesphoto.com.

Check here often for updates on my blog articles at Conservative Punk and Liberatchik, newly-published photographs, and my latest photo documentary projects.

I will also be using this blog for sacred cow tipping, re: the art and fine-art photography worlds. Let's just say that I won't be speaking of Ansel Adams, Nick Brandt, and Susan Sontag in hushed, reverential, tones.

Most importantly, I will be updating readers on the latest developments on my book project. Please stop by often for the latest news.