In the Eye of the Sun
Mexican Fiestas
In the Eye of the Sun, Winningham’s book on Mexican fiestas, is a visual chronicle of one of the historic and varied traditions of life in Mexico. He began photographing Mexican fiestas in 1984, when he traveled to the state of Míchoacan to see the Day of the Dead celebration there. For the next 11 years, Geoff returned to Mexico frequently, visiting and re-visiting villages across the country, each of which he selected for its own unique tradition of festivities at particular times of the year. He established personal relationships with families who permitted him to photograph in the intimacy of their homes, and local officials who gave him special access to all phases of the celebrations.
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The book, published by W.W. Norton & Company, features an introduction by the eminent Chicano writer Richard Rodriguez and an essay by Nobel Prize laureate J.M.G. LeClézio. LeClézio wrote:
“Geoff Winningham’s photographs are not simply images. They invite us into the movements of the dance, urging us to put on our own masks, to lose ourselves in the violence and the truth of the ceremony.”
A limited number of traditional darkroom color prints (“color coupler prints”) and archival pigment prints of these photographs are available.
Zinacapan, Pue
Huaquechula, Pue