When Jorge returns to Mexico from the U.S., he may say he is craving something specific: sun, or tlayudas, or the gut-punch scent of cempazuchitl as it is harvested just before the day of the dead. But in fact I think he is craving something much larger: the sense of life in all of its intensity, immensity, and complexity, life in its full exquisite and absurd panorama. His Xpan photo series is a stunning, almost painful reflection of this craving. The Xpan’s panoramic format allows Jorge to capture not only the geographical landscapes of Mexico – the crenelated mountains extending on and on under a huge, hot sky – but the emotional and cultural ones as well: the demons of carnival with their grotesque otherworldly grins haunting ordinary pueblo streets; the ancient intimacy between villagers and the land that sustains them, reflected in ritual sacrifice; the stoic patience and command of the herder, leading his goats to water; the reverence of carefully enacted rituals, in which the veil between this world and the next grows thin. In each panorama, a complex story of vulnerability, intimacy, relationship, in each a reflection of this absurd flicker of time between birth and death that we are lucky enough to inhabit. It is possible to read each photo as a life: the dark edges, the light in the middle filled with the granular heartbreaking detail of playfulness, suffering, work, devotion, performance, stillness, silliness, beauty – and beyond the frame, the quiet rooms, the streets, the landscapes we cannot know.
"Jinetes en Oaxaca" is a Hasselblad Xpan film photograph of rodeo riders, or "jinetes," riding their horses during a village fiesta in Matadamas Etla Oaxaca. February 2016
Carnival in Zaachila Oaxaca. March 2016
El Cerro del Zempoaltépetl, is the sacred mountain of the Mixe region in Oaxaca. The Mixe people climb this mountain everyday, carrying chickens, roosters, guajolotes (turkeys) and mezcal to ask the mountain for good fortune and favors. They sacrifice the animals there, but they carry the meat back to town for a feast. The day we climbed we where lucky enough to run into a big group of around 60 topiles (policemen) from the village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, who have climbed the mountain to ask for guidance and good luck for their year in service. One by one the topil and his/her family would go to the altar to prey and, in a striking ritual, sacrifice their animals. It was incredible to watch how connected these people were to the animals. Most of them had only had them for a week or so, but it already seemed they had a deep connection. While they were waiting for their turn to sacrifice the animals, most of them were waiting patiently with the roosters on their heads. Cerro sagrado del Zempoaltépetl. Oaxaca. March 2020
Musicians in Guelatao de Juárez, Oaxaca. January 2017
El Cerro del Zempoaltépetl, is the sacred mountain of the Mixe region in Oaxaca. The Mixe people climb this mountain everyday, carrying chickens, roosters, guajolotes (turkeys) and mezcal to ask the mountain for good fortune and favors. They sacrifice the animals there, but they carry the meat back to town for a feast. The day we climbed we where lucky enough to run into a big group of around 60 topiles (policemen) from the village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, who have climbed the mountain to ask for guidance and good luck for their year in service. One by one the topil and his/her family would go to the altar to prey and, in a striking ritual, sacrifice their animals. It was incredible to watch how connected these people were to the animals. Most of them had only had them for a week or so, but it already seemed they had a deep connection. While they were waiting for their turn to sacrifice the animals, most of them were waiting patiently with the roosters on their heads. Cerro sagrado del Zempoaltépetl. Oaxaca. March 2020
A man carries fireworks in a maize field in Mazatlan Villa de Flores, Oaxaca. November 2017.
Dogs in Guelatao de Juarez, Oaxaca. January 2017.
Carnival in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca February 2015.
El Cerro del Zempoaltépetl, is the sacred mountain of the Mixe region in Oaxaca. The Mixe people climb this mountain everyday, carrying chickens, roosters, guajolotes (turkeys) and mezcal to ask the mountain for good fortune and favors. They sacrifice the animals there, but they carry the meat back to town for a feast. The day we climbed we where lucky enough to run into a big group of around 60 topiles (policemen) from the village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, who have climbed the mountain to ask for guidance and good luck for their year in service. One by one the topil and his/her family would go to the altar to prey and, in a striking ritual, sacrifice their animals. It was incredible to watch how connected these people were to the animals. Most of them had only had them for a week or so, but it already seemed they had a deep connection. While they were waiting for their turn to sacrifice the animals, most of them were waiting patiently with the roosters on their heads. March 2020.
Señor y burro. Sierra Mixe, Oaxaca. March 2020.
Fiesta en Matadamas, Oaxaca. February 2016.
Fiesta en Matadamas, Oaxaca II. February 2016.
Dia de los muertos en Oaxaca. November 2017
Comparsas en Nazareno, Etla Oaxaca November 2019
Hasselblad Xpan Travel Black and White Photos
Oaxaca, Mexico Oaxaca 2015
Cuilapam de Guerrero Oaxaca. 2017
Tecomavaca, Oaxaca November 2019
El Rosario Temextitlán, Oaxaca
“Pata de perro” El Rosario Temextitlán, Oaxaca February 2019
Agave Field, Oaxaca November 2021
San Pablo Macuiltianguis, Oaxaca February 2019
Carnaval en Xolox Oaxaca. La Chinantla February 2019
Mujer Istmeña en Santo Domingo Tehuantepec Oaxaca. January 2017
From "The Gnome Forest" series. Ixtlan de Juárez, Oaxaca November 2019
Niño pastor de chivos en Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.
2015
Day of the Dead in Mazatlán Villa de Flores Oaxaca, Mexico. Photographed using a Hasselblad Xpan with black and white film.
Día de los muertos en Mazatlán Villa de Flores Oaxaca
November 2019
Portrait of Claudio Medina setting up his altar for the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. November 2019
Diablos en el Carnaval en San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca February 2015
Carnaval in San Martin Tilcajete using a Hasselblad Xpan for black and white panoramic photos. February 2015
Jorge Santiago | Pittsburgh Documentary Photographer
Jorge Santiago is a freelance documentary photographer based in Pittsburgh; specializing in sports, portraits, and stories in Mexico. View his portfolio today!