Life Portraits of Guanacaste
On September 11, 2001,
the world changed for every person inhabiting it. When the Twin Towers
collapsed, Zoraida Diaz was in New
York City. At that time, she had been a worldwide
photographic journalist for Reuters for thirteen years, but on that day, she
wasn’t “on the clock” at the Big Apple; on the contrary, she was giving birth
to her son in the hospital at NYU. It’s ironic that she was at the epicenter of
this infamous day in history, yet unable to capture it through her cameras.
Nonetheless, the events permanently changed her life, too. In search of a
kinder, gentler habitation, she gave up her job with one of the biggest news
agencies in the world and moved with her family to Costa
Rica, where she quickly became enamored by Sugar Beach
and Playa Portrero. In a relatively short amount of time, she teamed up with
Ralph Nicholson to form the weekly newspaper The Beach Times.
Thus began a love
affair between Ms. Diaz and, in her words, “all things Guanacastecan”. As this
passion blossomed, Zoraida realized that it needed a home, too. From this
inspiration, Ms. Diaz culled through nearly a thousand photos to choose the
ones that best represented the unique culture of this area. The result is her
new book, entitled “Guanacaste: Retratos de Vida / Life Portraits”.
There are
currently several popular, quality photo journals with Guanacaste as their
subject matter. What sets Ms. Diaz’ project apart from these is that while the
earlier books deal almost exclusively in landscapes, Zoraida allows the lens of
the camera to focus on the people here. Make no mistake: there are spectacular Guanacaste
landscape photos in “Life Portraits”, but the heart of this project is the
inhabitants, the pulse of this area.
Working with a group
of editor/friends, Diaz was able to whittle her choices down to about “only”
four hundred. She then applied a little family mojo by getting her seven year
old son’s input and reduced the number by a hundred. At this point, she turned
to Horatio Villalobos, director of the European Photo Agency in Paris, who helped her
establish the one hundred eighty shots that made the final cut. The result is a
stunning collection, a wonderful montage of color and black & white photos
that embraces the personality of Guanacaste. I also want to mention how much I
enjoy the photos done in rapid time sequence.
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| Zoraida Diaz |
And then there is
the writing. Ms. Diaz displayed her talent as a producer when she turned to her
circle of friends who are scribes for their contributions. “Life Portraits” is
divided into four segments, with simpatico
introductions by folklorist Jose Manuel Pena and Carlos Arauz for the Plains
section, marine biologist Giovanni Bassey describing the Pacific shoreline,
songwriter Balo Gomez reflecting on the people and songwriter Guadalupe Urbina
with her thoughts on Guanacaste traditions. The forward by the poet Miguel
Fajardo Korea
is a touching introduction, a nice opening to segue into the project.
I asked Ms. Diaz
about the difference between taking these kinds of photos and the ones she took
for Reuters. She explained that she had never met a good photographer who could
divorce themselves from the subject matter. She told me that, “Robert Capa used
to say that if a picture wasn’t good enough, it was because the photographer
hadn’t gotten close enough”. Of course, Capa was speaking about getting close
both physically and emotionally.
Looking again at
her photographs in “Guanacaste: Retratos de Vida / Life Portraits”, it is clear
that Zoraida Diaz has gotten close enough to her subjects. You can almost touch
them. Or let them touch you.
The book is
available at all three Jaime Peligro books stores in Playa Tamarindo, Quepos
and Tilaran. Jaimepeligro123@hotmail.com
All comments concerning this article are welcome.
All comments concerning this article are welcome.
