Barragan [antikvár]

The Villages of Yesteryear It was in the fall of 1967 in the Sonora Desert town of Guaymas. I stood between two giant cardones (cactus) as I watched the sun's glow from the Tfetes Déeabras mountain, lb ray right was a giant of a man in whose footsteps I had followed for the past thirty years; he was my father and founder of Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where I was schooled, lb my left stood Mexico's greatest landscape photographer, Armando Salas Portugal. I felt protection from these two giants who had catapulted their beliefs and philosophies of the photographic craft to the highest standards in the world. I felt protected by their presence, and yet a bit intimidated by their stature as professional photographers. Here I was, with my 4x5 camera, attempting to capture the afterglow of this magnificent desert scene with two artists who had photographed the identical scene years and years before my time. It was the fall of the year and the light desert winds from the north gave birth, with the heat of the desert floor, to magnificent cumulus clouds touching the peak of this citadel standing proudly at the base of the Sea of Cortez. The setting sun was now shadowing the desert's heat of the day, and as the birds took flight and the last rays of our day star began to diminish, this became a time, a position, and a place where an exposure was made, capturing this fantastic moment, which I shall never forget. It was the mountain, the sea, the air of tranquility, and these two men who propelled my visions with their profound works of photography. This was my beginning. I am privileged and honored to write an introduction to this visual account of Armando's work. I knew when I first met this incredible man that publication of his life's work would one day come true. Armando Salas Portugal and Luis Barragán worked together for forty years. Ai-mando was born in 1916, and in 1933, at the age of 17, came to the United States and was enrolled in Beverly Hills High School. He loved the mountains and trees; everything was perfect. He became chess champion at school and was active in track, running the 400-meter and the 100-meter races. He attended UCLA from 1935 to 1937, where he held a national track record for years.