Save a spot on your bookshelf
By Daniel B. Robinson

La Luz del Pueblo - Discovering a Sense of Place in San Miguel de Allende is a book of photographs taken by Jeremy Woodhouse and Nancy Rotenberg with an essay by Nancy.

 The authors note that the title and the book intend to show the physical light of the town; they also liked the title for its metaphysical implications and connotations suggested in the Spanish—the soul or spirit of the people and the place.

Jeremy is living his dream of being a full-time award-winning professional stock photographer, now increasingly devoting his time to photographing lifestyles and people. Nancy is a freelance photographer/writer/educator. She has been leading photography workshops and teaching; her goal is to encourage other photographers to create visual statements that go beyond documentation, i.e.—to photograph intimately and with feeling.

A one-page history of San Miguel by Luis Miguel López Alanís is followed by a nine-page introduction by Nancy. Her text succeeds in capturing remarkably well the attractions of San Miguel, especially for those visiting from other parts of the world. Unfortunately and inexplicably, she failed to cite Atención as a source of information concerning forthcoming events in San Miguel.

The photos throughout the book are excellent and present a balanced visual impression of San Miguel. The captions, in addition to a brief description of the photo, provide technical instructions for photographers to achieve the various effects which Jeremy and Nancy were seeking. Residents of and visitors to San Miguel will recognize most of the subjects of the photos, although a few of them, such as interior courtyards on private properties, would not be accessible to the general public.

The chapter, “La Luz del Pueblo (Spirit of the People),” begins with a one-page essay urging visitors—especially those who are photographers—to develop a mindful way of seeing and of listening, paying attention to style, to life and death without preconceived notions. The photos in this chapter focus mainly on people, including a number of black-and-white images of the incredibly-lined faces of elderly sanmiguelenses, mostly of indigenous origin, reflecting their many years of life experience.


The following chapter, “Detalles Gráficos (Graphic Details),” continues to provide brief technical instructions to photographers. Throughout the book quotations by famous writers, composers and musicians, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Cervantes, T.S. Eliot, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Cohen are relevant to the photos.

Several of the beautiful images in the next chapter, “Diseño y Color (Design & Color),” capture reflections in water, in windows and in puddles, achieving what the authors describe as “writing poetry with our photography.” Several photos, throughout the book, incorporate in the subject matter the Day of the Dead, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, conveying the way Mexicans think about death.

The last chapter, “Técnicas Digitales (Digital Techniques),” is highly technical. The text will likely be of great interest to readers who are serious photographers. Part of this chapter was written by Ray Klass.

La Luz del Pueblo features one of the best collections of photographs of San Miguel published in book form, thereby earning a place in the library of many of the readers of this review. Available at La Tienda of the Biblioteca Pública and Libros El Tecolote on calle Jesús, it is priced at 700 pesos.

dbrobinson7@gmail.com