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Aknowledgements

Many thanks to Catherine Docter for preparing and editing the text. This !rst volume is dedicated to her.

These photographs and text are owned and copyrighted by The John Edward Heaton Archive and are nowhere else available for sale.

ColophonThe photographs were printed by Foto Europa in Guatemala City with pigmented archival inks on 310gsm Hahnemühle 100% a-Cellulose, white, mould-made paper. The clamshell case of archival linen book cloth was hand cra"ed by the !ne book press, Libros San Cristóbal, in Santiago Zamora, Guatemala. Lucía Menéndez was the graphic designer.

The font is Nova Espinosa, digitally printed in Guatemala City on 100% cotton paper. This case of sixteen 11"x14" images was curated by the artist in January 2011.

The edition is 30, with one Artist Proof.

John Edward Heaton, b. 1951, Paris; lives in Antigua, Guatemala and Paris, France.

John Heaton was born to a French mother and American father and educated in the UK, France and Switzerland; he attended the Art Academy in San Francisco from 1973–1976.

Celebrated by international design, travel and hospitality media for his savoir faire, Heaton’s life has been one of intrepid travel, art col-lecting, hospitality entrepreneurship and historic and environmental conservation. His storied journeys into remote tribal areas, his com-pelling circle of friends, and his large scale conservation and hospi-tality platforms, have made Heaton a multi-talented creative force. Builder, artist, collector, writer, conservationist, !lmmaker, as well as a gi"ed photographer, Heaton #irts with convention, always stretch-ing the creative process.

For the last 35 years, Heaton has been documenting with !lm; he uses camera and !lm like others use a pencil and a diary. He never arranges or rearranges his subjects. He relishes their truth, documents that which is there, yet always perceives the unexpected beauty or surreal twist that few others notice.

La Antigua Guatemala, SacatepéquezGuatemala

The$%&' ()*+,) &(+-%' +,.&/0(

The John Edward Heaton Archive holds approximately 45,000 still images and 300 hours of !lm footage. Aware he was living extraordi-nary times, and witnessing them from privileged vantage points, Hea-ton’s archive is a treasure trove that re#ects remarkable regions during astonishing times.

Highlights of the archive include a three-week journey to the 122, travelling with the Dalai Lama for an historic revival of Buddhism in Buryatia in 1991, immersion into the pagan brotherhoods of the high-land Maya from 1978–present and an expedition into Asmat territory and the Baliem Valley of Western New Guinea in the late 1990s.

Central America forms a large part of the archive, but is joined by im-agery from Madagascar, Russia, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, the Trobriands Islands, Mexico, France and Peru, among others. It is catalogued by date, region and subject; it starts in 1977 and continues to the present day. The archive consists of 35mm negatives (color and black & white) and digital images, as well as !lm format: 8mm video, Hi8 and DV. It documents encounters with local cultures, cra", art and decoration, architecture, indigenous rituals and lifestyle, landscape and social-political events.

At my English boarding school, what lay beyond the chalk pit-nestled in the shadows of the surrounding woods-was o!-limits. The

chalk pit was the distance eight-year-old legs could run to and from before the bell rang. Those who ventured beyond would risk facing an angry wall of tweed and ‘six of the best’ as punishment (six strokes of a cane on your backside).

Curiosity devoured me and induced me to trespass. Thus, I collid-ed into the schoolmaster’s tweed and received the inevitable. This, however, enlightened me to a new dimension: the notion of ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. I remember being upli"ed by a refreshing sense of independence, but most alluring was the exclusive nature of the knowledge of what lay beyond the chalk pit and the fact that it could not be bought or easily had. It had to be earned, but at a price. This personal life experience at a young age bordered on the mythic and ever since inspired me to venture beyond life’s chalk pits.

Guatemala

There is no place as beautiful and ugly and dramatic and as full of life and death as Guatemala. It is art. Guatemala is a mystical lady, but one of ill-repute. She wields charms and seduces. She is tantalizing, haugh-ty, daunting, vibrant, and treacherous. Those who dare to get involved and immerse deep into this land ultimately pay a price. Some will just evaporate, be ‘disappeared’, or simply #ee; few will come out unscathed.

For those who crave the edge, Guatemala is as sharp as it gets: a land where extremes rub elbows, both Beauty and Beast. These two dance a whirlwind while trying not to step on each other’s toes. When they ultimately do, the music stops with deathly silence. And then, as if noth-ing happened, the dance resumes, as bewitching as ever and life goes on. This is Guatemala’s reality: harsh, raw, vibrant, bewildering and unfor-giving; all amidst a land of majestic volcanoes and jungle mists, where ancestral Maya traditions and unfathomable beauty lie.

For those who live this country, it is essential to deconstruct, to shelf genteel upbringing and worldly manners and to grow tougher skin. It is part of one’s checklist before entering the stage of this surreal theater $lled with Botero-esque actors playing Gabriel García Márquez meets Mario Puzo. Games of masks and mirrors prevail; one can be struck by the disappearance of a friend, and moments later by the praising of henchmen or the kidnapping of a bride’s roses. Yet, in some strange way, one remains awed by the beauty of it all.

This is a land where adventure echoes and curiosity is its fuel. There is no lion’s roar, but the tremors of earth itself: the rumble of volcanoes spewing glowing lava, dawn mists ripping from a canopy of primal for-est, dugout canoes gliding silently on mirrored jungle lakes and pagan e%gies protecting the dispossessed. Extraordinary landscapes, ancestral cultures and eternal contradictions: magical surrealism is Guatemala.

John Edward HeatonLa Antigua, GuatemalaJune 2011

&'()*+ ,-' .-/01 23,

The Beyond the Chalk Pit series is a multi-volume collection of archivally printed images in $ne cases, each with a special selection pulled from the archive of Heaton’s journeys and encounters. The $rst volume focuses on Guatemala, a deeply compelling, but troubling na-tion Heaton has called home since the mid 1980s.

a

4. Lil ’ Maria, 2008Virgen de Dolores; Semana Santa procession in Antigua

Annually, elaborate processions occur during Easter Week, known as Semana Santa, in the old Capital of Spanish colonial Central America, now called Antigua. This young girl with glasses dressed in white em-bodies the surreal atmosphere of Antigua Guatemala.

5. Guiding Angels, 2009El Convite in Ciudad Vieja

This young girl holds a niño Jesús on a #oat that is part of the proces-sions during the town’s annual festival, El Convite, which takes place every December 6/7th.

6. Untitled, 2009Easter Week/Semana Santa celebrations in Antigua

The hooded individual is part of a church procession of historic saints; the hooded carriers are referred to as a Nazarenes in Antigua.

7. Conservative Vows, 2009San José Cathedral, Antigua

The characters, expressions and postures of this wedding scene struck me as coming from another era and re#ect well the quirkiness of this country’s up-and-coming middle class.

8. Fly on the Veil, 2010San José Cathedral, Antigua

This was the moment the bride entered the church #anked by her father and bridesmaids. Only later did I realize a #y was on her veil.

9. Conversation with San José, 2009Rabinal Achí ceremonies in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz

This captures an intimate act of faith between a traditionalist and a saint, San José. The Rabinal Achí is an annual historic series of dances that take place in the town of Rabinal, in the department of Baja Vera-paz. It has been, and still is common here, for the faithful to speak directly to the saints to interceed for them.

:. Exhalation of Faith, 2011Shrine of San Simón in San Andrés Iztapa, Sacatepéquez

This visiting shaman, or traditional spiritual guide, performs a ‘limpia’ or puri$cation ritual for himself. Shamans o"en smoke cigars to better connect with the Otherworld and as a means of puri$cation.

;. Costumbristas at Shrine of San Simón, 2011Shrine of San Simón in San Andrés Iztapa, Sacatepéquez

This image is of a spiritual cleansing performed by a local shaman with a mix of wild herbs and #owers known as siete montes, or ‘seven herbs’.

<. The Rilaj’ Mam, Guardian of the Dispossessed, 1986Santiago Atitlán

During Good Friday’s Easter celebration, when the procession leaves the Catholic church, the traditional power $gure, Rilaj’Mam (a.k.a Maximón), is mounted on the shoulders of its keeper, the télenel, to taunt Jesus Christ before returning to his abode in the pagan brother-hood, or cofradia, of Santa Cruz.

4=. Untitled, 2007Río Tatín, Río Dulce, Izabal

At dawn at the mouth of the Río Tatín, a tributary of the Río Dulce on the Caribbean coast, Kek’chi’ Maya glide in traditional dugout canoes.

44. Tres Generaciones, 2001Todos Santos Cuchumatanes

As part of the festivities, three generations of Mam Maya men watch the traditional horse race held here annually on November 1st known as Day of the Dead. It is a reckless, epic race due to excessive alcohol consumption, and o"en leads to accidents or the death of participants.

45. The Posse at el Convite, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken in Ciudad Vieja, during the town’s annual festival known as El Convite, these masked vigilantes on horseback frame two Guatemalan army o%cers and an exposed concrete block wall: all omnipresent in this country.

46. My Mask is Ugly, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken during El Convite the annual town festival in Ciudad Vieja, one of the participants has #ipped his mask up, revealing the duality of his handsome features and the da" ones of his mask.

47. El Sicario, 2008San Juan Sacatepéquez

Taken in San Juan Sacatepéquez during the Day of the Dead, Novem-ber 1st, the pose and paraphernalia typify the machismo of young Gua-temalan highland villagers.

48. Toys-R-Us, 2008Main Plaza, Antigua

Taken in Antigua’s main square during a religious procession, violent toys are easily accessible and re#ect the country’s present reality and heroes.

49. The Inevitable, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken in the village of Ciudad Vieja during the town’s annual festival, El Convite Dec. 6/7; San Pascual or ‘the mask of death’ is present even at festivals.

Guatemala, Volume ! 1986–2011

.

 

At my English boarding school, what lay beyond the chalk pit-nestled in the shadows of the surrounding woods-was o!-limits. The

chalk pit was the distance eight-year-old legs could run to and from before the bell rang. Those who ventured beyond would risk facing an angry wall of tweed and ‘six of the best’ as punishment (six strokes of a cane on your backside).

Curiosity devoured me and induced me to trespass. Thus, I collid-ed into the schoolmaster’s tweed and received the inevitable. This, however, enlightened me to a new dimension: the notion of ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. I remember being upli"ed by a refreshing sense of independence, but most alluring was the exclusive nature of the knowledge of what lay beyond the chalk pit and the fact that it could not be bought or easily had. It had to be earned, but at a price. This personal life experience at a young age bordered on the mythic and ever since inspired me to venture beyond life’s chalk pits.

Guatemala

There is no place as beautiful and ugly and dramatic and as full of life and death as Guatemala. It is art. Guatemala is a mystical lady, but one of ill-repute. She wields charms and seduces. She is tantalizing, haugh-ty, daunting, vibrant, and treacherous. Those who dare to get involved and immerse deep into this land ultimately pay a price. Some will just evaporate, be ‘disappeared’, or simply #ee; few will come out unscathed.

For those who crave the edge, Guatemala is as sharp as it gets: a land where extremes rub elbows, both Beauty and Beast. These two dance a whirlwind while trying not to step on each other’s toes. When they ultimately do, the music stops with deathly silence. And then, as if noth-ing happened, the dance resumes, as bewitching as ever and life goes on. This is Guatemala’s reality: harsh, raw, vibrant, bewildering and unfor-giving; all amidst a land of majestic volcanoes and jungle mists, where ancestral Maya traditions and unfathomable beauty lie.

For those who live this country, it is essential to deconstruct, to shelf genteel upbringing and worldly manners and to grow tougher skin. It is part of one’s checklist before entering the stage of this surreal theater $lled with Botero-esque actors playing Gabriel García Márquez meets Mario Puzo. Games of masks and mirrors prevail; one can be struck by the disappearance of a friend, and moments later by the praising of henchmen or the kidnapping of a bride’s roses. Yet, in some strange way, one remains awed by the beauty of it all.

This is a land where adventure echoes and curiosity is its fuel. There is no lion’s roar, but the tremors of earth itself: the rumble of volcanoes spewing glowing lava, dawn mists ripping from a canopy of primal for-est, dugout canoes gliding silently on mirrored jungle lakes and pagan e%gies protecting the dispossessed. Extraordinary landscapes, ancestral cultures and eternal contradictions: magical surrealism is Guatemala.

John Edward HeatonLa Antigua, GuatemalaJune 2011

&'()*+ ,-' .-/01 23,

The Beyond the Chalk Pit series is a multi-volume collection of archivally printed images in $ne cases, each with a special selection pulled from the archive of Heaton’s journeys and encounters. The $rst volume focuses on Guatemala, a deeply compelling, but troubling na-tion Heaton has called home since the mid 1980s.

a

4. Lil ’ Maria, 2008Virgen de Dolores; Semana Santa procession in Antigua

Annually, elaborate processions occur during Easter Week, known as Semana Santa, in the old Capital of Spanish colonial Central America, now called Antigua. This young girl with glasses dressed in white em-bodies the surreal atmosphere of Antigua Guatemala.

5. Guiding Angels, 2009El Convite in Ciudad Vieja

This young girl holds a niño Jesús on a #oat that is part of the proces-sions during the town’s annual festival, El Convite, which takes place every December 6/7th.

6. Untitled, 2009Easter Week/Semana Santa celebrations in Antigua

The hooded individual is part of a church procession of historic saints; the hooded carriers are referred to as a Nazarenes in Antigua.

7. Conservative Vows, 2009San José Cathedral, Antigua

The characters, expressions and postures of this wedding scene struck me as coming from another era and re#ect well the quirkiness of this country’s up-and-coming middle class.

8. Fly on the Veil, 2010San José Cathedral, Antigua

This was the moment the bride entered the church #anked by her father and bridesmaids. Only later did I realize a #y was on her veil.

9. Conversation with San José, 2009Rabinal Achí ceremonies in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz

This captures an intimate act of faith between a traditionalist and a saint, San José. The Rabinal Achí is an annual historic series of dances that take place in the town of Rabinal, in the department of Baja Vera-paz. It has been, and still is common here, for the faithful to speak directly to the saints to interceed for them.

:. Exhalation of Faith, 2011Shrine of San Simón in San Andrés Iztapa, Sacatepéquez

This visiting shaman, or traditional spiritual guide, performs a ‘limpia’ or puri$cation ritual for himself. Shamans o"en smoke cigars to better connect with the Otherworld and as a means of puri$cation.

;. Costumbristas at Shrine of San Simón, 2011Shrine of San Simón in San Andrés Iztapa, Sacatepéquez

This image is of a spiritual cleansing performed by a local shaman with a mix of wild herbs and #owers known as siete montes, or ‘seven herbs’.

<. The Rilaj’ Mam, Guardian of the Dispossessed, 1986Santiago Atitlán

During Good Friday’s Easter celebration, when the procession leaves the Catholic church, the traditional power $gure, Rilaj’Mam (a.k.a Maximón), is mounted on the shoulders of its keeper, the télenel, to taunt Jesus Christ before returning to his abode in the pagan brother-hood, or cofradia, of Santa Cruz.

4=. Untitled, 2007Río Tatín, Río Dulce, Izabal

At dawn at the mouth of the Río Tatín, a tributary of the Río Dulce on the Caribbean coast, Kek’chi’ Maya glide in traditional dugout canoes.

44. Tres Generaciones, 2001Todos Santos Cuchumatanes

As part of the festivities, three generations of Mam Maya men watch the traditional horse race held here annually on November 1st known as Day of the Dead. It is a reckless, epic race due to excessive alcohol consumption, and o"en leads to accidents or the death of participants.

45. The Posse at el Convite, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken in Ciudad Vieja, during the town’s annual festival known as El Convite, these masked vigilantes on horseback frame two Guatemalan army o%cers and an exposed concrete block wall: all omnipresent in this country.

46. My Mask is Ugly, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken during El Convite the annual town festival in Ciudad Vieja, one of the participants has #ipped his mask up, revealing the duality of his handsome features and the da" ones of his mask.

47. El Sicario, 2008San Juan Sacatepéquez

Taken in San Juan Sacatepéquez during the Day of the Dead, Novem-ber 1st, the pose and paraphernalia typify the machismo of young Gua-temalan highland villagers.

48. Toys-R-Us, 2008Main Plaza, Antigua

Taken in Antigua’s main square during a religious procession, violent toys are easily accessible and re#ect the country’s present reality and heroes.

49. The Inevitable, 2009El Convite, Ciudad Vieja

Taken in the village of Ciudad Vieja during the town’s annual festival, El Convite Dec. 6/7; San Pascual or ‘the mask of death’ is present even at festivals.

Guatemala, Volume ! 1986–2011

 

Aknowledgements

Many thanks to Catherine Docter for preparing and editing the text. This !rst volume is dedicated to her.

These photographs and text are owned and copyrighted by The John Edward Heaton Archive and are nowhere else available for sale.

ColophonThe photographs were printed by Foto Europa in Guatemala City with pigmented archival inks on 310gsm Hahnemühle 100% a-Cellulose, white, mould-made paper. The clamshell case of archival linen book cloth was hand cra"ed by the !ne book press, Libros San Cristóbal, in Santiago Zamora, Guatemala. Lucía Menéndez was the graphic designer.

The font is Nova Espinosa, digitally printed in Guatemala City on 100% cotton paper. This case of sixteen 11"x14" images was curated by the artist in January 2011.

The edition is 30, with one Artist Proof.

John Edward Heaton, b. 1951, Paris; lives in Antigua, Guatemala and Paris, France.

John Heaton was born to a French mother and American father and educated in the UK, France and Switzerland; he attended the Art Academy in San Francisco from 1973–1976.

Celebrated by international design, travel and hospitality media for his savoir faire, Heaton’s life has been one of intrepid travel, art col-lecting, hospitality entrepreneurship and historic and environmental conservation. His storied journeys into remote tribal areas, his com-pelling circle of friends, and his large scale conservation and hospi-tality platforms, have made Heaton a multi-talented creative force. Builder, artist, collector, writer, conservationist, !lmmaker, as well as a gi"ed photographer, Heaton #irts with convention, always stretch-ing the creative process.

For the last 35 years, Heaton has been documenting with !lm; he uses camera and !lm like others use a pencil and a diary. He never arranges or rearranges his subjects. He relishes their truth, documents that which is there, yet always perceives the unexpected beauty or surreal twist that few others notice.

La Antigua Guatemala, SacatepéquezGuatemala

The$%&' ()*+,) &(+-%' +,.&/0(

The John Edward Heaton Archive holds approximately 45,000 still images and 300 hours of !lm footage. Aware he was living extraordi-nary times, and witnessing them from privileged vantage points, Hea-ton’s archive is a treasure trove that re#ects remarkable regions during astonishing times.

Highlights of the archive include a three-week journey to the 122, travelling with the Dalai Lama for an historic revival of Buddhism in Buryatia in 1991, immersion into the pagan brotherhoods of the high-land Maya from 1978–present and an expedition into Asmat territory and the Baliem Valley of Western New Guinea in the late 1990s.

Central America forms a large part of the archive, but is joined by im-agery from Madagascar, Russia, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, the Trobriands Islands, Mexico, France and Peru, among others. It is catalogued by date, region and subject; it starts in 1977 and continues to the present day. The archive consists of 35mm negatives (color and black & white) and digital images, as well as !lm format: 8mm video, Hi8 and DV. It documents encounters with local cultures, cra", art and decoration, architecture, indigenous rituals and lifestyle, landscape and social-political events. 

These photographs and text are owned and copyrighted by The John Edward Heaton Archive and are nowhere else available for sale. For further information please contact: John Heaton: jhatlarge@mac.com or Catherine Docter: cathdoc1@aol.com