honorable mention
Francisco Alcala Torreslanda mexico
title
For Her Sake – Women’s Pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe
For some women the pilgrimage is 17 days and more than 270 miles while for most is around 140 miles and 8 days. In July 2016, close to 20,000 women of all ages made the journey walking through step mountains, valleys, dirt roads, and highways, bearing the heat, cold, high humidity, and rain. Several of them have made the yearly journey more than 50 years.
This photographer decided to live the experience walking with the women in their 17 day pilgrimage, getting an insider view of their motivations and more importantly living with them the heavily loaded emotional journey. It has become clear that there are no big enough obstacles to stop them from getting to the Basilica to visit their beloved Lady of Guadalupe…only for her sake.
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entry description
During the last 57 years, women from the State of Queretaro Mexico have walked every year from their communities to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe. The Basilica is a Roman Catholic Church built near the hill of Tepeyac where the Lady of Guadalupe is believed to have appeared to Juan Diego in the early 16th century. The Basilica houses the original cloak, which holds the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Approximately 20 million people visit the Sanctuary every year, which makes it one of the most important and frequented Christian Sanctuaries in the World.For some women the pilgrimage is 17 days and more than 270 miles while for most is around 140 miles and 8 days. In July 2016, close to 20,000 women of all ages made the journey walking through step mountains, valleys, dirt roads, and highways, bearing the heat, cold, high humidity, and rain. Several of them have made the yearly journey more than 50 years.
This photographer decided to live the experience walking with the women in their 17 day pilgrimage, getting an insider view of their motivations and more importantly living with them the heavily loaded emotional journey. It has become clear that there are no big enough obstacles to stop them from getting to the Basilica to visit their beloved Lady of Guadalupe…only for her sake.
about the photographer
Francisco Alcalá Torreslanda is a humanitarian and travel photographer with focus on social and cultural documentary. The images that he creates are positive, visually compelling and with profound meaning that reflect his artistic sensibility and his great respect for people independently of origin, genre, or socio-economic level. He believes that visual communication is a powerful medium to bring together and to generate dialog between the diverse factors that contribute to the social development. His vision is the result of his broad experiences in a professional career of more than 30 years in the Supply Chain of the Food Industry leading many people of manufacturing plants and operations in North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia. Due to his love for photography and his desire to contribute to social development, at the end of 2013, he retired from his position as Latin America Supply Chain to accelerate the completion of a Master in Fine Arts in Photography with the Academy of Art University.back to gallery