March Artist - Manfred Guthe
"All Things Mexican" March 1 - 31

Artist's Statement:

I am a German-born Canadian Cinematographer and Director with over 32 years of experience in
photography. I first became involved with the arts when I was asked to help light a theatrical production, but I have always had a love for creating Still Images. I have strived to record and manipulate what I call 'street' photographs that reflect a photojournalistic feel that belies their complexity.

So this year, when I went to visit friends in Queretaro, they urged me to take a side trip to Mexico City and asked me to bring my camera.

I hadn’t been to Mexico City in thirty years. What I encountered was a happy surprise. Breathable air. A vibrant city moving confidently into the future. Vivid colours illuminating immaculate streets and boulevards, swept clean by an army of civic workers, Architecture, old and new, pleasing to the eye.

And an ocean of animated faces, which offered me a portrait of the city’s human history. Spanish and Native, and everything in between. Multi generational families, youngsters, lovers, the very elderly, entrepreneurs, blue collar workers, police, all on parade, comfortable in their skin and in their city.

Was it the city that had changed? Or my perceptions? I don’t know. But here is an unfiltered record of what I saw...

Manfred Guthe

Visit "All Things Mexican" at the Gibson Centre from March 1 - 31