What is Good? Part IV

For my fourth topic for this summer research project I have chosen 'Cupcakes'. What I will do specifically with this project is take recipes from the 'Hummingbird Bakery' cook book and follow these recipes to create a range of various cupcakes. I will document each stage in the creation process through photography and will also use imagery to capture a final image of each specific recipe. At the end of each creation I will ask an impartial, yet constant, person to give their opinion on various aspects of the cupcake. I will ask for a rating for each one and when I have followed all the recipes I will determine which is the 'Ultimate Cupcake'.

Mexico Summary

I thought I would summarise my experiences in the country of Mexico for the end of this particular choice of topic. In general the experience was amazing, the things I saw and the activities I participated in were unforgettable. I had always wanted to go to Mexico, just because I thought it would be colourful and bright, but when I got there I discovered so much more. I knew the trip I was going on was called 'Ancient Civilisations' but I couldn't grasp the wealth of knowledge and visuals I would learn and see whilst I was there. We visited five different ruin sites, each one with its own personality and architectural style, each one more beautiful than the last. Another experience that was incredible was being led through the jungle by a genuine native. The things he knew and his heritage clearly visible, the whole day was eye opening. Below is a list of all the highlights I can think of from the trip:

Snorkeling in Akumal, ancient seaturtles, the crystal-clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean, Chichén Itzá, Temple of Kukulkan, incredible ballcourt/murals, Ik Kil cenote, colonial Merida, oldest Cathedral in the America’s, the beautiful Cuzamá Cenotes, fun travel to get there/back, long travel day to Palenque, great pizzas and great music at el Panchan, lost palaces and terraces in the jungle, walking barefoot up waterfalls, the outstretching view of the Yucatan, King Pakal, curving speed-bumpy road up to San Cristobal, Misol Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls, Zapatistas, San Juan Chamula & Zinacantan w/ Ceaser, shopping, Palenque Rojo theater, the Underworld, the nightbus, riding bikes to the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban, amazing view of the Oaxacan valley, chapulines, Mezcal factory, local fabric weaving/color mixing, the 2,000+ yr old Cypress tree in Tule, busride to Mexico, Frida Kahlos house, Diego Rivera murals, museum of Anthropology, the mighty ruins of Teotihuacan, and the mighty midget parrot of the Lucha Libre.

Looking back now it's hard to believe that we managed to fit all that into a 16 day tour, but we did, and that's what made it so great. Not once did the group decide to sit back and let the experiences pass us by. No matter how tired we were from the hellish journey the day before, we always picked ourselves up and experienced something new every day. It was without doubt the best two weeks of my life and something I will never forget. Therefore how could it not be chosen as one of my topics for 'What is Good?'

Favourite Photo's

Below are my choices of favourite pictures from my Mexico trip. I chose to narrow it down to five even though I could probably pick at least 50 and love every one.

So picture one shows a close up shot of a large scale 'catrina' that was placed out side of a little artisan shop in San Cristobal de las Casas. A 'catrina' is a depiction of a skeleton dressed in elegant clothes and usually a big hat. The idea was originally taken from the Mexican born engraver Jose Guadalupe Posada, who created a small illustration that represented the upper classes during the reign of a particularly unpopular president Porfirio Diaz. The original image is meant to communicate that it does not matter how wealthy and elegant you are, you are still as likely to die as any other person. However due to the skeletons presence the image has become synonymous with the 'Dia de los Muertos' celebrations and finding a 'catrina' similar to this in any shop or any street is not as rare as you might think.

I chose the next picture because of the three things that are represented in it. Firstly the tree you see on the left is no ordinary tree, it is in fact one of the oldest tree's in the world, estimated at nearly 1500 years old, and does possess the widest trunk of any tree in the world. The circumference measures 36 metres. Next to the tree is a beautiful church that was built specifically to accommodate the large tree and the annual celebrations that take place in homage to the 'miracle' of the tree. The third aspect shown is the blue and white 'papel picado', which is a popular form of paper decoration in Mexico. This particular decoration was present because of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary on 15 August, a date that we just missed by a few days.

The third pictures show the discarded cacti that are used in order to make 'mezcal', a particular type of tequila that is specific to the Oaxaca area of Mexico. The group went to an authentic mezcal manufacturing establishment and witnessed the whole process that is required to make this type of tequila. I thought this composition was interesting because with all cacti's cut up and discarded it is hard to tell what they once were. But infact the alcohol is made from the heart of these plants called maguey. This is the brand of tequila that is famous for having a worm in the bottom, a nice treat for the last person to drink from the bottle.

This fourth picture was taken whilst standing on the Pyramid of the Moon at the ruin site of 'Teotihuacan'. It's a great shot because it basically shows all the impressive sights available here, besides from the well preserved murals still visible in the residential areas. On this picture you can see the Avenue of the Dead to the right and the Pyramid of the Sun to the left. What's even more interesting about this site is that it has never been identified which group of indigenous people constructed it, but most think that it must have been the Toltec's. There are many myths about the two large pyramids and why there were constructed but the most popular being they were created after the self sacrifice of two god's who jumped into fiery pits. 

I chose this last picture because it captures the group trekking across a waterfall in the Palenque jungle. This day was probably the most testing of all days, as it involved a four hour trek through the dense jungle in the state of Chiapas. We had to walk through water and mud, over and under giant tree trunks, and up and down slippery slopes, where more than one person fell over. However it was so gratifying because at the end of the trek we witnessed an un-excavated temple in its natural state surrounded by tree's and then stepped out into the main archeological Palenque site, where we saw some of the most grand Mayan ruins ever. That is a definitely a day I will never forget.

Mexico Photo's

Below are the contact sheets for the cameras that I took to Mexico. I took two different types of camera for different days. For more detailed and artistic pictures I took my Canon 400D SLR and for days where I had little room for baggage I took my Samsung ST45. Both camera's proved useful and captured some amazing visuals. Below is each image in a small form, after that I will post my 5 favourite images and give a brief description of what each one is showing. Below are the seven contact sheets for my Canon.

Below are the seven contact sheets that belong to the Samsung camera. I have to admit that I did not take some of these pictures, but in fact my sister did. Some are basically repeated images from above but obviously on a lower resolution camera. I think the mix between colour and ancient brickwork is extraordinary.

What is Good? Part III

17 days ago I left this country for a trip that had been booked for almost a year. That trip was a 16 day adventure around Mexico. I knew that I couldn't go on holiday for that long without doing any work so I decided to incorporate my trip with my work. Therefore for my third topic for 'What is Good?' I chose to explore the idea of why I consider Mexico to be 'good'. For this project I would not have had access to the internet or any form of secondary research, so I would use purely my own experiences. I decided to take a journal where I documented every day's activity and also collected certain items, sort of like a scrap book. I also decided to take my camera so I could capture the most most impressive things I saw and document all the culture that makes Mexico so interesting and diverse. Below are the scans of my journal that I took with me.

Sparkle Cycle

I came across this video and thought it was an interesting insight into a persons love and affection for their bike. Besides this, I think the bike is pretty damn cool. Taken from the creator: One roll of Kodak Vision 3 16mm stock. A glittering custom bicycle. One sunny day. Enjoy!

Trip to London

s weekend I took a trip to London that had been planned for some time. When it was booked the idea was for it to be purely recreational. However it just so happens that the timing of the trip was perfect and a new scheme had been introduced just days before. It was Boris Johnson's, the Mayor of London, introduction of bike racks all around the city. Sponsored by Barclays Bank, the scheme aims to get people more mobile around the city, and increase the number of bikes on the streets rather than cars and buses. I managed to get a few pictures of these so called 'docking stations'.

Obviously the scheme is in its very early stages so it is hard to gage the success right now. I would say it seems to be making somewhat of an impact. For example I would say I saw quite a few people riding around the streets on them throughout the duration of the weekend. However I also walked past a lot of stations where only 4 or 5 were removed from a total of about 20. This could be because it was the weekend and people who may use them to commute or run errands would rather do that on week days. A few observations I made about people who where riding them was that they seemed to be struggling slightly. The bikes appeared quite heavy and with no gears present it would make riding upward more difficult. However I guess we will just have to wait and see how successful the scheme will be.

Besides from this initiative I also noticed the presence of bikes in general. I captured images of all sorts of different characters riding around on a wide selection of bikes. Below are a few pictures of these.

On top of all the activity I noticed on the roads I also stumbled across a bicycle rental place. It was located on a wharf somewhere along the south bank and it was absolutely thriving. There were hundreds of bikes available to rent, all different styles and all different colours. It seemed as though the most popular customers where tourists who wanted a nice leisurely ride, and most people seemed to be in groups of three or more. The prices seemed reasonable and the idea itself was obviously working. Below are a few images of the bikes available and the customers themselves.