Travels with Charlie: Featured Galleries and Collections

Pilgrimages to Chimayo

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:54:25 GMT

What Lourdes is to water, Chimayo is to the earth

The chapel in Chimayo started on a legend, was built upon sacred land. A crucifix was found in a field and upon that site the people built El Sanctuario De Chimayo. Over time the soil was thought to be sacred and people from near and far began to visit Chimayo for cures. This became especially so during Holy Week and these trips became religious pilgrimages. Today over 300,000 people visit Chimayo each year and tens of thousands visit during the Easter holidays.

Most pilgrims walk to the sanctuary on Good Friday so that they can suffer along with Christ on the day he suffered and died. They walk from the nearby pueblos and towns like Pojoaque, Nambe, and Espanola. Many walk from as far as Santa Fe or even Albuquerque. You see hundreds of these pilgrims along every road leading into Chimayo during Holy Week and this number grows to thousands on Good Friday.

They come as a penance for their sins, to find God or having found God, some seek redemption, and others come for those who are sick or in harm’s way. They come wearing tee shirts or bearing crosses with the names and pictures of their loved ones on them. And some, like myself, come to bear witness to this belief and capture the images of it for others to see.

I have a book covering our visits to Chimayo during Holy Week titled, "Of Adobe, Earth, and the Soul". You can preview the book here.

When the Democrats Came to Town

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In August of 2008 the Democratic Party had their national convention in Denver on August 25th through the 28th. It was an extraordinary time to visit the mile high city and I drove in almost every day.

On Sunday the first of the rallies and marches took place. Recreate '68, a group who wanted to recreate the fervor of the protests in 1968, organized an "End the Occupation" rally and march. At first there were more media than protesters and I wondered if the rally would take place. After the speeches the protesters marched to the Pepsi Center where the convention would take place. Later in the day there were several "Funk the War" protests which merged on the 16th Street Mall.

The rally on Monday was in support of "Prisoners' Rights". There were not that many attendees at the rally but nearby was an "encampment" of protesters and they joined the march to the Federal Courthouse later. After the march, at the demonstration in front of the courthouse, "prisoners" in orange jumpsuits knelt at the entrance and in front of the line of police protecting the entrance. Protesters with megaphones taunted the police, who to their credit maintained their composure.

The march on Tuesday was to be a low key, kid friendly event with floats and music. However, religious protesters taunted the crowd with megaphones and there were many confrontations between the groups, pushing and shoving, yelling, megaphones against megaphones, and arrests.

The last day of the convention I returned to photograph the immigration march and rally. Later I moved around the Mall to photograph the people and protesters. It was on the mall that I took my best photograph. Three elderly African American ladies with a teenage grandchild were on the mall and the young lady stopped to take a picture of the elderly ladies. I asked them if they would like me to take a picture of all four of them with their camera. They looked so happy and had such a wonderful smile of contentment and joy that I forgot to ask if I could take another picture of them with my camera.

Book available here

Of Adobe and the Earth

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:21:47 GMT

The Streets of Portland

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:22:55 GMT

Two and a half days in Portland, Oregon
June
hot, humid
95, 95, 100 degrees
Pearl District, Pioneer Square, Old Town, Chinatown, Saturday Market
Did I mention it was hot?

Pearl Street

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pearl Street, a camera, and a free afternoon, can life get any better? These images were taken along Pearl Street and the Farmers' Market in Boulder, Colorado.

There are certain places I have found that are great for street photography - Charles Bridge in Prague, Harajuku in Tokyo, and then there is Pearl Street here in Colorado. Pearl is a converging point for all walks of life and culture, the rich and homeless, the tourist and the student, street performers and hustlers, and observers like me.

Recent Work - September

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:17:15 GMT

Recent Work - October

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:30:12 GMT

Baltimore, Manhattan, Zombies... And in between, Ireland. Does life get any better?

(By the way, the Irish images are in other galleries.)

The Rock of Cashel

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:28:58 GMT

The town of Cashel was one of the many places we visited on a recent trip to Ireland. Most of the images in this gallery are of the Rock of Cashel or the castle in the town. Several others were taken around the town.

Cashel was one of our favorite towns mainly because of the food there and two restaurants in particular. Cafe Hans and Chez Hans were the best places we ate in Ireland which is saying a lot since Ireland had great restaurants and cafes. The owner of the B&B we stayed at pointed out that there were other good restaurants too. And, not to worry if one turns out bad he said, "There are three undertakers in town too."

Ireland - Along the Southern Coast

charslehman@gmail.com (Travels with Charlie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:19:12 GMT

These images were taken along the southern coast of Ireland, mostly on the Dingle Peninsula.