Candelaria

Leaving Colombia even the overwhelming concrete jungle of people that is Bogota seems familiar and manageable now having come and gone through here several times in the past weeks.

Now packed up and ready to re-enter into another world, back to el Norte and the shock wave of modern America, I wandered the streets of Candelaria one last time in the early morning dawn just as people were beginning to wake up and go about their business. I love the old cobblestone streets, antique colonial facades of the buildings, and most of all the crazy street art everywhere here and want to soak it in.

I have been taking tons of pictures of the street art around Candelaria in an idea to make a photo show or book to express it when I get back. Some of it is so bizarre, enigmatic, and political it runs the full gamut from horror to beauty. But for myself there is more than enough ugliness and horror to go around in the world and so I usually try to focus on the beautiful in my pictures. The bright pink pastel on the stucco walls and curvaceous shapes of woman with baskets of fruit is reminiscient of the colors and mood of the Caribbean to me. The old balustrade and gate of the window and antique looking street signs too add to the old nostalgia and bygone style that still lives side by side with the present all over Latin America. Some people would call it charm I guess. And it is, its beautiful. And beauty does matter in the world.

I can't take it with me but I try real hard to remember it when I see it, carefully storing it away for a rainy day. Heading home now I'm hoping for sunny days ahead.