Alicia Fox Photography Blog

Comalapa, Guatemala

“You have to ask before you take a photo of anyone here. A Japanese woman didn’t ask and she got stoned to death.”

That was my introduction to Comalapa, a small town, unmarked on the Guatemalan tourist map. I usually ask before I take someones photo, but sometimes that ruins the moment and I (respectfully) want to get a shot before they are aware that I even exist. After the above advice though, I got the feeling that the locals here aren’t really into being the subjects of documentary photography, so I’m going to ask everybodies permission before I take photos of them.

This morning my friend Loren needed to do some washing and asked me if I wanted to go to the public laundry with him. A lot of people around here don’t have the water or facilities to wash clothes in their own home so the women come together and wash communally. It’s such a wonderful and unique cultural experience and I’d been attracted to Guatemala’s outdoor laundries since I first saw them.

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I got chatting to this beautiful lady, Chejina (above), while Loren was washing his clothes. Chejina told me she goes there most days to wash. I asked her three times (just to be sure that the question wasn’t getting lost in translation) if it was okay to take her photo. All the ladies around thought it was really funny that I would want to take a photo of their friend washing clothes. I guess they’re right.

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This gorgeous little boy has four brothers and sisters. He spends most of his days on his Mums back. She told me that he is very heavy and Thanks to God she is very strong.

When I first read about the Kuna Yala indigenous people in the San Blas Islands, I knew I had to visit the islands to photograph them. In all descripitions, the people and the landscape sounded visually stunning.

The Kuna women hand-sew their vibrant outfits with tropical patterns and elaborate designs. Their arms and legs are adorned with colourful beads in traditional patterns that imitate designs that used to be painted on their skin before missionaries taught them to wear clothes.

The location they call home is over 300 idyllic islands in the Caribbean Sea of Panama, the most picture perfect place I have visited in my life. Many of the inhabitants are nomadic and move from island to island collecting coconuts and selling their clothing, designs and beaded jewelry to tourists.

I shot a series of photos for Atmosphere magazine, an in-flight publication for Canada’s Air Transat. The photos are in the current (July-August) edition.

I wrote the article “30 Days in Chugchilan” for Shutterbug magazine in The USA. This article is about my personal project to document the village I was living in, Chugchilan in Ecuador, in 2010.

A full set of the photos and the story behind them can be found on the “30 Days in Chugchilan” tab at the top of this page.