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

The Festive Field of Death, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2005

Visiting a large Mexican cemetery on The Day of The Dead can be an unforgettable festive and sensory experience. Voices raised in songs, some sad, others happy. The sound of Mariachi trumpets, accordions, and guitars. A sea of color floral tributes reaching as far as the eye can see. The unforgettable smell of flowers, incense, and cooking food permeating the air. And, if one is able to believe in such things, the spirits of the dead will surely come to join the party. The image is built around the man, who seems lost among the blossoms of death. He is the focal point in an image crammed with flowers, crosses, fences and tombs. A cloud of rising incense slowly rises from a grave

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Phil Douglis23-Nov-2005 19:47
Thanks for being the first to comment on this image, PA. The contrasting colors are very important here -- he seeks no attention for himself by wearing white. All the attention is paid to the dead on this day. You are right about the custom of placing flowers on tombs. A flower is a symbol, not of death but of life. They are given by the living to the dead, so that in a way, they can continue to live as well.
PA 23-Nov-2005 11:16
What is striking visually here is the overcrowding. Your comment adds that the overcrowding was accentuated by the smell and the sounds happening at the same time. The man, who seems busy, adds to the tension of the picture.
Another interesting aspect here is the colours. The man is dressed in white, as if he was going to a wedding or some happy event. From what I understand, Mexicans celebrate that day as a happy day as well (maybe All Saints Day at the same time as the Day of the Dead).
This picture made me question why we put flowers on tombs. Flowers could be a symbol of youth, life, beauty and celebration. Why placing flowers on tombs? Is it a superstition? Is it to please the spirit, to show our affection, to exorcize something? Or maybe, as I read somewhere, "flowers have a silent meaning of their own, and can "say" what was not dared to be spoken".
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