.:::Fototeca Pedro Guerra – Ficha fotográfica :::. (uady.mx)
.:::Fototeca Pedro Guerra – Ficha fotográfica :::. (uady.mx)
The first of these photos depict Uxmal from the ground specifically the Temple of The Turtles and the Governers Palace from the pok-a-tok court. Something I found interesting about this photo was how in ruin the buildings were as when we visited, they appeared to have been restored in some capacity. This put me in mind of the Ship of Theseus Paradox which essentially is a thought experiment about whether an object is the same object after it has all of its parts replaced.
The other photo depicts Uxmal from an ariel perspective. Something about this photo I found interesting was the lack of trees within the ruins themselves as when we visited, I felt that while not abundant they were still prevalent. Additionally, the ariel photo interested me as taking it would not have been as simple as flying a drone up and taking a photo and it likely required a sizeable sum of money to not only have the photo taken but to rent a plane as well.
Both of the photos were taken by Raúl Cámara Zavala. In trying to determine his motivations for taking the photo I stumbled upon him on Ancestry.com. I learned that he had four children (several of whom are still alive!) and passed away at the age of 92 years old. I unfortunately could not find what his profession was, but I think that the purpose of the photos was likely for someone else’s use. I think this as from what I can tell he was not particularly wealthy and would not have been able to afford the flight to take the photos. Additionally, I think that these photos may have been for historical reasons as there are other photos of the site that include close ups of designs as well as more broad ranging shots that I feel are attempting to capture the site in a historical lens.
