Monday, September 19, 2011

Guatemalan Queens

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Hi guys,

My friend Leslie drew my attention to these artsy photo portraits of Guatemalan indigenous reinas. They were selected as queens in what appears to be an event similar to the Ecuadorian Queen competition that Maria Virginia (my co-author of The Queen of Water) participated in.


Most of the Guatemalan queens are Mayan, and like Maria's Queen competition, these events emphasize cultural connections. For example, the young women have to give a speech in their native indigenous language.



The photos are contemporary, although they look old-fashioned because they were taken with this kind of camera... I think they look beautiful, but it's too bad that the vivid colors aren't captured in the photos. You can see the full article and photo essay on the Guardian website here.



Here's a black and white photo of Maria taken by a French magazine photographer after she won a Queen competition as a teen... definitely a bit sassy with the off-the-shoulder look!



I'm so glad these Queen events occur in other parts of Latin America... it was an important way for Maria to reconnect with and value her own roots, and I hope it does the same for other young women.

 

Fort Collins and Loveland friends: Hope you can join Maria and me and one of our events coming up--

Sept 20
 
Tues, Loveland Public Library. Presentation and Discussion with Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango (!) 6:30-8:00. Everyone welcome. 

Oct 6

Thursday, 12:00-1:30 The Queen of Water Presentation/Discussion with my co-author, Maria Virginia Farinango, and me. West Conference Room, Longs Peak Student Center, Front Range Community College, Larimer Campus (Harmony and Shields), Fort Collins. Free and open to the public! (Arrive early—the parking lot is huge and crowded!)

If you're a teacher or librarian who's coming to this CLAS conference, please come say hi to me!!

 

Sept 23-24

Fri and Sat, CLAS (Colorado Language Arts Society) Conference, Luncheon Keynote and Breakout Session. Golden, CO. Registration required.

 

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Laura

4 comments:

  1. These photos are stunning, Laura. Color really isn't needed. Continued good luck with this!

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  2. Thanks, Katie-- good point. I think the black and white lets you focus on other things, like faces and textures, which don't pop out as much when they're competing with lots of bright, eye-grabbing colors.

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  3. Hi Ms. Resau,

    I read The Queen of Water just a month or so ago and I really loved it. I just found your blog and it is so interesting to see pictures of Maria Virginia and read about her... if your book hadn't already come alive while I was reading it I would say that it is coming alive again! I have written a review of The Queen of Water and will post it on my blog once I get it all polished (I'll let you know when that is.) Anyways, I just wanted to say that I really love your books, thanks for writing them!

    -Jo

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  4. Hi Jo!
    I'm thrilled that you like Queen so much and that you took the time to look at Maria Virginia's photos on my blog-- thank you! I'd love to read your review-- please let me know when you post it, and I'll link to it from my blog!
    Cheers,
    Laura

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