Playa Del Carmen, MX // January 2015
Yes, it has been two months since my trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and I'm finally ready to share the details of my trip with you. Let me start from the beginning. I was approached by Francesca in the Fall with her concept for a travel television show. A friend had introduced us thinking I could help Francesca take her show from a written treatment to a video trailer. She would then use this trailer to pitch her show to various investors and networks. Francesca was hell bent on getting us to the ideal festival that would really capture the essence of what she wanted get across in her show. She wanted to find out for herself and her viewers, why people travel far and wide to gather at various cultural festivals. She finally found a festival that she thought would be perfect for us to shoot at. It was going to be BMP festival in Mexico. And It was a month away. In that month, we solidified her concept, put together a production schedule, a small crew and brewed up some media passes. Since a lot of the footage would be done guerrilla style, we brought and shot with mostly GoPro's and a small Sony. While there, we spent most of our time interviewing festival goers and getting footage of people partying, which was crucial to the task at hand. However, if you know me or have read any of my blog posts, you'll know that what I most enjoyed was interviewing the locals and seeing the surrounding culture. We visited the Mayan Ruins, restaurants that were favored by the locals, and on our last day in Mexico, we visited the homes of people who live in Playa Del Carmen full-time. Luckily, I'm versed enough in the Spanish language to let these people know that I was not a dangerous intruder, but rather a curious photographer who simply wanted their photo. Below are some of the photos I took that day, with some information about the people in them. I also added the trailer that we made on the trip for you to take a look at. Read on and enjoy!
This is Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
This is the first family I came across. I entered their property, which consisted of two small homes and one shed. I initially walked up because I saw an elderly man gardening and thought he was adorable. Then, all of the women came out and started giggling, so I took their photo. This photo shows three generations of women, who all live on this property. They sell ice from their home to make money.
This is the gardener. He was very sweet and kept posing for me.
This is the gardener's wife. When she came out of her home, she saw me, smiled and waved. Then, she fixed her hair. I had to get a portrait of her, because she is just so beautiful.
This is the next family I found. I only met the mother and daughter. The little girl is being home schooled by her mom, who is simultaneously cooking for her family on an outdoor stove.
These guys came running out when they saw me and struck a pose.
He told me I could only take his photo if I bought a coconut. I did it anyway. I had to capture that sass.
Their parents were no where to be found. When I left them, they yelled after me to take more photos of them.
And so I did.
