This photo is really special to me it was one of those moments when you can’t resist and have to leave everything behind just to follow a very intense character. I was inside my car about to leave my apartment just backing up to the main road and there he was a very distant figure closing in. My first was reaction to foolishly let it go but something inside me told me that this was a very unique and one of a kind opportunity so I stepped out of the vehicle took my camera from the trunk and ran after him. I have to tell you chasing someone its not my style because I know it is kinda awkward for the person. You know what I mean? But it really was a special moment and he was such a sport about it. I made the photo almost with no breath. So there he was standing in front of me like a crack in time, Don Ramon carrying his hay home for his cattle i suddenly felt like Jack Delano, Russell Lee or Dorothea Lange I felt the joy that they felt as FSA Photographers when in front of such powerful characters. Great experience all around

Los melancolicos de marte__0253, originally uploaded by kx0101.

Just a pleasant evening with Los Melancolicos de Marte right in the epicenter of the Isabela Music Club at Cano’s. Cool grooves great times and photos to watch.

check out the photosession here

Don Celestino el maratonista, originally uploaded by kx0101.

After a late lunch at Machete Rojo in Aguadilla. I started photographing some stray horses that were behind the establishment. Little did i know that the owner of the horses was around until I heard him calling me -”Mira tu eres fotografo?” asking me if i was a photographer I said sure “How are you doing?”. Then he presented himself -”Mi nombre es Celestino” my name is Celestino. He told me that he had recently bought those horses to do a improvised carriage by sawing in half an old car that he has a really old and broken down Toyota i think it was. He intended to use the Toyota’s chassis as a frame for the carriage so it can be pulled by the horses.

However the biggest surprise of this encounter unfolded when he invited me to enter his humble wooden house. As I entered the first thing i saw was that the walls were covered with newspapers. For a second i thought that he was using the newspapers to cover the wooden shapes of his house but as i looked closer i could see that Don Celestino has been meticulously collecting the history of the sport of marathon running in the island. It was really impressive to see all his medals, certificates, commendations and trophies alongside the press clippings. He told stories about the San Blas Marathon one the of the hardest and most unforgiving marathons on the island He told me that the distance to be covered in the San Blas marathon was like going from Aguadilla to Hormigueros in a straight line using #2 Road (that’s approximately a 1hr drive). I opened my eyes really big at that point. He also shared stories and accounts of his fellow marathon runners, legends like Pan-american marathon medallist Peco Gonzalez among others.

By the end of the conversation I asked him how does he stay in shape at his age. He told me that he hasn’t stopped running and that he keeps active running in various marathons across the island and training for them all year long. Celestino even went as far as to show me one of his training secrets for endurance and boost. To make his point clear he tied a tire to a rope and the rope to his waist at that time i was a bit concerned that the old man was going to hurt himself but he knew what he was doing from the get go. This old man is tougher and more resistant than anyone i know to date. And for the looks of it this tiny and skinny old man can out run even death any day for sure.

More pics here

When I took this photo my intent originally was to capture a family portrait but as i was taking pictures i couldn’t get my  eye out of the old man. This man is a 100 yrs old and is taken care of by his son who has been living with them for the last 11yrs. To me his expression was really saddening. I felt like i was looking at a piece of my country that not many people see. A place so hidden that it was like a hole in the wall and no one dares to look thought it. This family built this house with their own hands in a piece of land that has been passed away from generation to generation. I felt amazement that there are still people out there in this age that still live in their own world apart from society’s rule and consumerism they even trade fruit for milk and vegetables they grow in their garden in order to have a meal. It was really something nostalgic the kind of thing that you listen in tales of how people lived back then. I would never imagine in my lifetime that I would see something so powerful like that.

If you want to see more of that set click here

Recently I finished editing the pictures i took for Icaro Azul a puerto rican band from the western part of the island. It was a very special project because for me the pictures took a very special and mystical look in a way reminiscent of our history, heritage and nostalgia as puerto ricans. Those blurry years in our history that are not really documented in books but live in the collective memory of our elders. I have to say it was really amazing to work with a band that is not ashamed to show their heritage in the open and accept that deep down inside we are all “jibaros” in one way or the other.