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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty One: Interpreting cultural festivals -- Mexico’s Day of the Dead > Cemetery on The Day of The Dead, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2005
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02-NOV-2005

Cemetery on The Day of The Dead, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2005

Relatives of the dead cover virtually every grave in this vast cemetery with flowers. Graves are lovingly tended, sumptuous picnics and family stories are shared, and cheerful music is played. All because the celebrants believe that the souls of the dead will return to be with them. I deliberately left all those people out of this picture, including only what they chose to leave behind. The angel is the focal point of the image, rising out of the banks of floral tributes and lifting an arm as if in amazement.

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Phil Douglis21-Dec-2005 21:09
I like your interpretation, Guest -- this holiday is all about the missing, and I was always conscious of that as I photographed this festival. Here I stress what is left behind, and the white, inanimate angel certainly contributes to that feeling you mention. You have excellent analytical skills, noting the value of such obscure but important facts as the cleanliness of this cluttered scene.
Guest 18-Dec-2005 03:36
By leaving people out of the picture, it looks like the day after a celebration. The spirit of it is still there, but something seems to be missing. The angel looks too white, inanimate. Maybe the spirits of the departed are still there, but we feel that something is missing. Another point caught my attention: everything looks so clean there, even the tins to hold the flowers.
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