Procession I
4 color photogravure
Paper size 28.5" X 40"
Image size 20" X 28"
• BFK 280 gsm paper measuring 28” x 40”
• Two separate Plates, each printed à la pupée. Plate 1 holds images printed in blue and red ,
plate 2 holds images printed in brown and green
• Deckled edges
• Limited edition of 10
• $3,000 plus tax
Only 1 print remaining in edition
Closer up detail
Print making
The story
Every year near the end of October, hundreds of cowboys and ranchers embark both far and wide to the remote village of San Martín de Terreros. This small colonial town is located almost halfway between the city of Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. By around 11am Saturday morning, all of the riders gather from their primitive camping sites throughout the usually quiet town to form a procession and ride, eventually gathering in front of the sanctuary to attend Mass. Both the riders and their horses receive blessings from the Priest for protection, prosperity and good health in the year to come.
In 2019, I made my second trip from Austin to San Martín de Terreros to photograph this unique event. The year before I was there with my film camera which immediately jammed when I started taking photos, so I could only look at an absorb the sights. I knew immediately, however, that I would return the following year.
Once again, I was captivated in that atmosphere that felt at once solemn and joyous. I was transported, moved by the complex beauty of humanity and history. I felt a deep sense of gratitude and excitement for the opportunity to both document and share this hidden world with others. Admittedly I shot more that I usually do, probably because I was not able to produce any work from the year before.
A few short months later into this new year, the pandemic struck and I could not travel to photograph. I decided It was time to go through all my photos of the past 20+ years and see what I might be able to construct as a collage and even print using alternative printing processes.
I spent a lot of that time revisiting the procession photos that I took just 5 months earlier. Each image I took documented just a little part of the procession and I thought compiling the images as an interesting collage where you see the procession more in its entirety would reveal more of the heart, energy, and essence of the event. I decided on 3 collages that would look best displayed as a tryptic.
I chose the world renowned Flatbed Press to make the limited-edition photogravure prints.