Tiffany Brown Photojournalist

20080603 mexico redux

this is the summer 2008 mexico blog compilation….because it was a nearly impossible task to look at the week’s work of blog entries in chronological order – which in blog world means backwards, i am reposting the entire week in this one post for easier viewing. hope you enjoy…

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20080529 en vivo de mexico

live from guadalajara, jalisco, mexico! i got in thursday afternoon and got about the raddest airport greeting ever. my best friend, annie, and her son, panzon – complete with my name, “tia tiffany” painted on his chest as he came running doing flips, literally, through the airport! beat that!!

it’s been two years since i have visited my BFF here. then she had just begun her medical school program and she and jose, who goes by “super,” (short for superman for his mad capoeira acrobatic skills) had just started dating and were renovating a house she bought – serious concrete work was under way. super’s son, panzon, was seven-years-old then.

now annie and super are married and annie is nine-months-pregnant, panzon is speaking english and the house is a mexican wonderland.

i’m going to try and blog daily while i’m here, when the winds are blowing right and i can get an internet connection, so our families and friends can finally see our girl at home in GDL. these are few pics from the trip to get here and the first few hours back in lovely guadalajara!

20080630 she really is preggers….

this week’s blogging is not a travel log. this is the on-going photo story of my eternal subject, going on 13-years now, by best friend, annie.

i’m posting loose edits daily for family and friends who have not seen annie’s world here since she moved south of the border two and a half years ago….and especially now, pregnant and about to give birth to her first biological child.

i am in mexico for the week, but it’s made less exotic spending the time with annie and panzon as locals….walking panzon to school (getting lost on the run home), breakfast in the neighborhood market, afternoon at the public pool….

it’s a personal story of the next phase of annie’s life, as a woman, a new mother, wife, friend and a doctor-to-be. little glimpses of her life here in this moment. the pictures i’m posting are less about the place and more about another chapter of good times as our lives continue to grow and change.

annie’s husband, “super,” is out of town for most of the week so it’s me and annie and their nine-year-old son, panzon…plus the one in the oven.

annie’s belly is the ever-present topic of conversation everywhere we go. mexicans LOVE the belly. today, her doctor, “dr.jose,” who is also an artist, painted up her belly between a full day of friday activity as she and panzon finished up school for the week, and we went back to the house to make belly pictures which turned to dancing and playing capoeira waiting for the heat to cool off to head back to the streets for tacos and night time strolling…

side note. just about my favorite breakfast ever. bionicos.

med school belly awe…

picking panzon up at school belly love….

20080531 saturday in GDL….

not as many pics once we got out of the house on saturday, but the morning light at the house is amazing. after some yoga n’ such we hoofed it to the market for breakfast before heading out into the day.

and big breaking news! my sobrino, panzon, made his very first photos with my camera today. a few are at the bottom of the post. total gems for annie and me since i’m usually taking the photos. presenting photographer panzon ceja chamberlain, poyi class of 2026.

from here down are panzon’s first photos, made after a long day in the sun as a minor food coma set in…..

20080601 big news in guadalajara!!

sunday a.m. we awoke to big news – annie got the e-mail notifying the family that panzon and super’s permanent visa applications were accepted!!! now the whole family will make a trip to ciudad juarez in late july for the final interview phase. it was a pretty special moment. (yes, of course, i recorded audio of annie reading the email to panzon!! ;-)

with that jump start on the day the three of us got ready to go train capoeira at parque revolucion, about a mile and a half from the house. super (annie’s hubby) normally teaches the class but since he is out of town at a capoeira event in salt lake city, annie was filling in.

panzon’s bike got stolen last week and the spare bike needs work, so panzon strapped on roller-shoes and me, my running shoes, and our little crew was out the door.

side note: GDL ROCKS! every sunday the city closes down 35 miles of city streets, and from 8am – 2pm the streets are full of bikes, boards, rollerblades….and at least one 9-month pregnant lady towing a nine-year-old on roller-shoes (and on this sunday, her photog bff running alongside snapping photos….)

heck yeah we stopped for tacos and ice cream on the way home. i mean, we still had to run home after training!

boliche! tia tiffany made a deal with panzon on saturday. bowling was the MUCH anticipated pay back for a nine-year-old’s patience.

and closing down the day, on the way back to the house panzon gets los chismes (the gossip!) from the kids next door. turns out, juan carlos has the chicken pox and victor’s sister’s novio kissed her en la boca!!

20080602 daily stuff con familia cejas chamberlain

a few takes from the later part of monday….

20080603 lucha libre embarazada

preparing for the rigors of labor and child-rearing, annie donned the mask and embraced her inner lucha libre as we took a few minutes on the morning of my last day in gdl to make a few of the more, umm, untraditional pregnant portraits of the week…. part hilarious, part awkward and totally ac/tb:

20080603 final day in guadalajara….

my final day in guadalajara and tomorrow annie is officially 36 weeks pregnant.

annie and i spent the morning at the house hanging out, making a few of the most bizarre preggers portraits (see above!) we could come up with and a trip to the market – where the little ladies literally grab ahold of the belly as she walks past! – before i went to explore the Casa de Huichol, the Basílica de la Virgen de Zapopan, and the Museo de Arte de Zapopán – which had a compelling exhibit by photographer Bernice Kolko of Frida Kahlo portraits that took me completely by surprise, while annie went to school for a few hours.

the afternoon brought annie, panzon and me home from school and exploring to have “super,” annie’s husband, returned home from a weekend trip to salt lake city for a capoeira event.

it was a joy to see the family together with annie’s big belly for the first time…and after some more chill house time and a bite to eat we all took off for the final prenatal appointment and belly casting with dr. jose – annie’s ob/gyn who is also an accomplished artist.

most of my pictures of annie over the years have been of her while we are off on our wild adventures as friends, photos of her during our fun times… but tonight, i had the treat of making pictures from the role of witness with camera, friend, but capturing the moments of her new life with her husband and child together as a family.

to see annie and jose gaze into each other’s eyes while little panzon, big brother to-be, held the baby heart rate monitor to annie’s belly and we all heard the scratchy pulse of a tiny heart inside her huge belly, well, i saw my best friend as a partner and mother in a way i had not before. truly a beautiful moment, and an honor to be able to capture and share.