other ways of seeing

Yagavilla

Mexico | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | 5 photos

There is a sleepy village in the sierras of Oaxaca. The village of Yagavilla stoops on the mountains where coffee farms are the town’s progress. Yagavilla is home to a Zapotec community with lush forests and heartattack hills. I stayed with several farmers' families but the story of Daniella Estrella's broke my heart most. Daniella stayed with her abuela and abuelo at one of the highest peaks of the town’s mountains. Her mother had abandoned her while her father was a migrant worker in the United States. Her story is not unique however thousands of parents have left their villages to find better jobs in the cities or abroad.

The village is still organized by the cargo system by the few men that are still left in town. People still go to church, although you will only find a third of the town in attendance every Sunday. Corn and coffee are their lifelines and mostly Zapotecan is spoken.

This is a glimpse of the Daniella’s family and the town of Santa Cruz de Yagavilla, Oaxaca, Mexico where I stayed for a brief week during Semana Santa (Easter).

I am a multi-disciplinary storyteller. My approach to photography is heavily influenced by my other passion, poetry. I began writing at a young age and once handed a camera, I realized the visual medium was just another form of poetry. Many times I cannot tell the difference if I am writing or if I am shooting. This approach has helped me in my editing and shooting integrity. I believe I am deserving of this scholarship because I have much experience with photography yet have had little resources to keep up with the technology. I have always dreamt of traveling to Bhutan and imagined the powerful energy flows there.