Las Vendedoras de las Flores (Flower Vendors)

sova.nmai.ac.071_ref126

See more items in: Michael Plyler photographs from Guatemala; Michael Plyler photographs from Guatemala / Series 3: K'iche' / 3.2: K'iche' negatives and transparencies

Collection Citation: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Michael Plyler photographs from Guatemala, image #, NMAI.AC.071; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights: Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Scope and Contents: Photograph of K'iche' flower vendors. Photographed by Michael Plyler in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Roll 18. Same as photographic print Las Vendedoras de las Flores (Flower Vendors) in Subseries 3.1. Description from Plyler: "The steps up to the main church in Chichi are a half-circle affair. Every market day a group of women congregate there to sell their flowers. There are two basic designs of women's huipiles in Chichi. The older version is a floral pattern while the more recent incarnation is a geometric pattern. So, you have these women wearing flower-patterned huipiles sitting among their flowers. Life imitates art. I had the Mamiya on a tripod. Whenever I would look directly at them, they would turn their heads or cover their faces. So I started looking 90 degrees to the camera and used a long cable release. I would take a sideways glance without turning my head to try and determine if they were looking at the camera. Then I would hit the cable release and hope for the best. I burned an entire roll of film, but it was worth it. Ironically, the first exposure on the roll was the best."

Collection Restrictions: Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

NMAI.AC.071_ref126

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4bd91e747-922e-4a0e-921d-9fe396e2cc88

NMAI.AC.071

NMAIA

Michael Plyler photographs from Guatemala

Creator

Plyler, Michael, 1955-

Summary

This collection consists of photographic prints, negatives, and transparencies taken by Michael Plyler between 1982 and 2018 that depict the everyday lives of five Highland Maya community groups from Guatemala. Also included are images of churches, buildings, and historic structures from Guatemala.