Flor Garduño: Witnesses Of Time [Hardcover]

Flor Garduño (Photographer), Carlos Fuentes (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

Witnesses of Time collects Flor Garduño's remarkable pictures where the sacred and symbolic are revealed in daily life. In remote corners of Central and South America, native Indians continue to practice ancient rituals as they have for millennia. Their rites embody a distinct worldview and a unique perception of time. The result of travels through ritual towns in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, Witnesses of Time encompasses landscape, architecture, ceremonies, tableaux and individual portraits. Figures in Garduño's evocative images become clues to the spirituality of the Indian cosmos. Landforms hint at other as unseen orders of being. Common acts take on an extra dimension through their ritual associations, in communities that still retain their ties to the environment. Complemented by an introduction by the renowned Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, Witnesses of Time is a tribute to a fascinating way of life, portrayed with an unparalleled grace.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Published in conjunction with a traveling exhibition, this volume of duotone photographs is often quite extraordinary. Attempting to show the melding of the mystical and the material, the ancient and the contemporary, in the daily lives of Native Americans in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, Garduno has fashioned a set of stunning portraits and landscapes. Most of the pictures are of Indians in their everyday circumstances--bare rooms with dirt floors, dusty and desolate stretches of land, old-world country villages--with many of the human subjects juxtaposed to (or wearing) religious totems, both Christian and pagan. Mexican novelist Fuentes writes of Garduno capturing "the immediate beauty and seduction of a figurine . . . a smiling little mask, or a parrot stylized for all eternity." Her most affecting photos are those in which these symbols blend in naturally with the overall composition. In several of the pictures, however, the subjects are too posed; one can imagine Garduno placing objects in their hands and telling them how and where to stand. Another problem: there is no text to accompany the photos, leaving the reader to guess the context or to glean what little information one can from the photos' titles.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In his introduction, world-renowned novelist/essayist Carlos Fuentes observes, "Native American time is simultaneously vast and minute, infinite and limited. To penetrate both worlds is the secret of Flor Gardu$o's art." Here, the Mexican-born Gardu$o collects photographs that resulted from travels through remote rural towns in Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Landscapes, architecture, ceremonies, masks, and individual portraits are all included, but the common thread is the spirituality of the Indian cosmos. Hinting at an ancient order of being, each photo contains archetypal images that evoke a powerful response in the viewer. Humans are considered only one among many animals, and death or sacrifice is often present as a necessary transition in the renewal of life; one senses lost worlds both without and within. Truly, these pictures are worth a thousand words. Comprising 72 beautiful black-and-white full-page plates, this deluxe hardcover edition accompanies a worldwide traveling exhibition. Patricia Wyatt's Keepers of the Dream (Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995) and similar pictorial works about Indian religion and mythology either cover a different area or do not emphasize art photography. Recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries with photography or Central and South American cultural collections and for specialized collections in photography or Native American spirituality. Sylvia Andrews, Indiana State Lib., Indianapolis
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 166 pages
• Publisher: Aperture; 2 edition (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893819190
• ISBN-13: 978-0893819194
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 0.8 x 11.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sentinels to the Passage of Time, March 9, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flor Garduño: Witnesses Of Time (Hardcover)

Flor Garduno is a mystical artist. She travels about the Americas pausing to observe and conserve rituals of the sacred and profane nature as embodied in the native peoples of Mexico,
Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. At times her photographs may seem stark or frozen in time or posed to minimize interaction with the surrounding landscape/homescape, but this technique only adds to the mystical element Garduno celebrates.

There is something timeless in these moments of ancient ritual, as though Garduno wants us to revere the passage of time as reliquaries for 'lost' civilizations. Yet her subjects and objects are extant: there is no gathering of elements from museums to authenticate these images. These are people and places that time passes by with respect and with reverence.

Some of the beauty of this portfolio is Garduno's concentration on the landscape as an equally important component of her travels. She captures the land of these remote regions in a manner that regards its holiness, its sanctity, its durable presence despite the shift of the winds and the ravages of weather.

This is a book for contemplation. The photographs are accompanied by an illuminating essay by none other than the brilliant Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes. This is a book that is highly recommended for personal libraries as well as for deeply thoughtful gifts. Grady Harp, March 05

5.0 out of 5 stars Flor Garduno: Witness Of Time, June 11, 2009

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Howard Barron (Jackson, Ms.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flor Garduño: Witnesses Of Time (Hardcover)

This is a good photo book. I liked the technique and subject material. I have great respect for one who can create great photographs with limited surroundings. Her talent shows.

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Alvarez Bravo, November 11, 2008

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J. Alvarado (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flor Garduño: Witnesses Of Time (Hardcover)

This is a useful backfill to knowledge of FG. If you have seen her fotos at galleries in the southwest and need a cheap way to more become familiar with her oeuvre, this is a good book for you. She is another of Alvarez Bravo's assistants (including Graciela Iturbide and Lola Alvarez Bravo). The fotos in this book are heavily reminiscent of those of Alvarez Bravo. The brief essay by Carlos Fuentes doesn't add much beyond name-weight to the work.