Escuela Efe was born from the need to learn and teach about the gaze in Guatemala. In 2018, during the first generation of the Visual Training Program, a program that teaches us to see from different perspectives using photography as an observation tool, the Efe Photography School was launched, whose main objective is to teach us about our own gaze and the first steps to develop it.
In 2019, it begins with the first annual photography course that ranges from knowledge of the technique to the development and exhibition of a personal project. The exhibitions of the students of the Annual Photography Course have been held at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Antigua and the UNIS-ROZAS BOTRÁN Museum.
In 2022, the first promotion of Professional Photographic Certification is launched, as a continuation of the Annual Photography Course. In this Certification we invite international photographers residing in El Salvador, Brazil, Spain and Korea to give master classes. Part of the results of this promotion is the use of the students’ photographs in a FUJI-INSTAX campaign, Exhibition of 5 works at the UNAM in Mexico within the framework of the International Kaleidoscope Photography Meeting 2022 and Cuba in 2023.
In just After 4 years of existing as an institution, Escuela Efe has graduated 110 people in the Annual Photography Course and Professional Photographic Certification. It is on this same anniversary that the Efe Collective, the CIRMA-EFE Collection and the EFE-Photo Tour were launched.
Efe School of Photography and Image Center is more than a place where courses are taught. We are leaders of a movement that changes the future of photography in Guatemala.
Food of the Gods
By Daniel Calderon
Food of the Gods (Alimento de los Dioses) was a learning experience, being able to portray in an intimate way the process in which Doña Juanita Cajas de Citalán makes chocolate from the cocoa beans. Cocoa, being an ancient fruit, was used by the Mayans to make ancestral drinks and likewise as currency, it gives us such a unique product which allows us to make foods that last throughout history. Doña Juanita, who opens the doors of her home in Quetzaltenango for me, in such a pleasant way, explains to us that the production of chocolate begins when she receives the cacao seeds, which she lets dry in the sun for a period, and then toasts them in a comal or a griddle as the grandmothers used to do. Following this she proceeds to grind the seeds, which, with her very secret recipe of ingredients, she manages to homogenize a thick paste, in order to pat it down to create the chocolate tablets which she makes by hand one by one.
Doña Juanita, at 92 years old, accompanied by her granddaughter Andrea, who is the heir to the recipe, allowed us to delve into this experience so rich in history and wisdom. I left his home full of knowledge, with an aroma of chocolate impregnated in the depths of me and my palate wanting to continue tasting that magnificent flavor, grateful to be able to portray him and share his legacy, which I hope will last in history.
Windows to Feelings
by Héctor Urizar
www.instagram.com/urizarhector
Windows to Feelings (Ventanas a Sentimientos) is a series of photographs taken during the pandemic in Guatemala. The people arranged from the windows of their homes show their feelings that range from boredom, joy, hope, fear, distrust, ignorance, confidence and above all a lot of faith that the pandemic will pass and we will be able to go out again.
This series was carried out in the Department of Totonicapán, in the municipalities of San Cristóbal Totonicapán and in the departmental capital of Totonicapán, October 2020.
Confidence
by Francis Navas
www.instagram.com/fran.photographie
I have stopped to think about how to honor the value of the labor of the Guatemalan working man.
The effort, the hard work, the responsibility; these make determined men keep their jobs for a lifetime. With my limited years of experience, but without fear of being wrong, the basis of this path has been TRUST.
For more than 60 years, in the Celada Molina family, we have had an example of a worker with these skills; He is Don Vidal Santos, who at 87 maintains a positive and resilient attitude towards life and work.
Through the lens of my camera I wanted to show the feelings of a whole family that values, respects and admires what Guatemalans like Don Vidal can achieve with constant work. This was also done in honor of Carlos Celada Corzo and Juan Francisco Navas Rossill.
Behind the Curtain
by Andrea Piñol
In 2019 I had the opportunity to learn and grow as a photographer at EFE and they gave me the opportunity to exhibit my project so that other people could appreciate it.
“Behind the curtain” is a collection of photos of dancers from my academy where I only focused on a part of their bodies. I used photography as a means to be able to capture and express what a dancer lives behind the curtain. Because it’s not just about what the public sees on the day of the show… Being a dancer is much more than that and much more difficult than it seems.
Each photo represents something that all dancers are, feel and do when dancing: sacrifice, pain, passion, insecurities, injuries, strength, growth, imperfections, beauty and process. It is a raw and real way of showing what we really live on a day-to-day basis doing what we like and are passionate about.
Through the hands
by Bryan Escobar
Manual work has a distinctive and unique finish, compared to industrial manufacturing, but the cost of these works is reflected in the hands of whoever makes them. This photographic project shows the work of a carpenter, a trade that has passed from generation to generation and whose work is purely manual. I’ve focuse on the hands, since in them we see the evidence of the wear and damage caused by the wood and tools that are used.
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