Aaron H. Johnston Photography: Featured Galleries and Collections

Nate and Sarah wedding

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:59:47 GMT

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Guatemala Exhibit

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:48:28 GMT

]]>Continuing the Struggle: Unión Victoria, Guatemala

After surviving some 30 years of civil war, the people of Unión Victoria, Guatemala continue their struggle to preserve their culture. The community of Unión Victoria is part of an organization known as Comunidades de Población en Resistencia de la Sierra (Communities of Population in Resistance) a group of some 20,000 people who fled their homes to live in the mountains during the height of the violence and oppression against the indigenous Maya in the 1980’s. For years families lived and were killed on the run from the military and right wing militias. For much of that time the Guatemalan government denied their existence. Following the war many of the "Communities of Population in Resistance," unable to return to their ancestral lands, were relocated throughout the country. In 2001, some 80 families resettled on a former coffee plantation founding the community of Unión Victoria. Today, through organization they have built houses, offices, and schools. They have a water system and a health clinic. Still, daily, many grapple with the consequences of war and displacement.

Since resettling they’ve found their new land unsuitable for growing corn, the most important food for the Maya. The community has had to learn to grow coffee, a labor-intensive crop, whose volatile price on the world market has provided little stability to the community. And many have left in search of work outside the community.

Yet the people of Unión Victoria continue their resistance today, struggling against economic pressures that threaten to break apart the community bond that has sustained them. Through collaboration on communal projects, they are able to accomplish far more than any one family could. By maintaining cultural traditions they reinforce the belief that the group is far more important than the individual.

For the past two years while serving in Brethren Volunteer Service as a Human Rights Accompanier I have documented the lives of the people of Unión Victoria. I have photographed their work in the coffee fields, and their children playing in the streets. I have photographed women weaving and men with their young coffee plants. I have photographed celebrations and Mayan ceremonies. I have photographed bodies exhumed from clandestine graves, the ultimate proof of the catastrophe that is war. I have photographed a resilient people and I have learned so much.

Aaron Johnston
www.aaronhjohnston.com

Melissa & Mark

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:49:32 GMT

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Landscape/Cityscape

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:38:58 GMT

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Amelia M.

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:48:31 GMT

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Good Friday-San Lucas Toliman

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:41:50 GMT

]]>Christians in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala celebrate Good Friday with reverence and extravagance during Semana Santa. Festivities center around the Catholic parish where parishioners reenact Christ's death, placing the body in a glass casket. Following the mass, a processional slowly carries the casket through town. Ahead of the procession, towns people decorate the streets with alfombras(carpets) made of colored saw dust, pine needles, fruits and flowers. Thousands flock to San Lucas Tolimán from nearby villages to see the colorful alfombras and pay their respects.

Maya and Bella

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:25:28 GMT

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Alea M.

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 07:52:39 GMT

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Steelwheel Duo

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:05:14 GMT

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Kevin B.

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:40:49 GMT

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Eric and Marie Wedding

aaronhjohnston@gmail.com (Aaron H. Johnston Photography) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:55:21 GMT

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