dia de los muertos

The 'Day of the Dead' (Spanish: Dia de los muertos) is celebrated in Mexico, developed from ancient traditions among its pre-Columbian cultures. Rituals, celebrating the deaths of ancestors, had been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. The festival, that developed into the modern 'Day of the Dead', fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess known as the "Lady of the Dead".

Photographer Hipolito Ardizzonne in this case wanted to inspire in this Mexican tradition. It was a photo shoot, that has taken him a lot of time to prepare, as he wanted it to be really special and attractive to people.

When Hipolito started with the idea, he needed a model in particular. The model had to be tall, darkhaired and also gather character. He decided on the Spanish model Mar Mateos of Cantabria (northern Spain).  For this special event the model needed a makeup, that were up to scratch, and Hipolito got in contact with Ariadna Cacicedo. She had worked with him in the past and was the adequate choice for this shooting. Hipolito also had the help of his friend Rafael Balbas, who was featured by us in March 2015.

As location he already had in mind the ancient fifteenth century church with its cemetery. It was a sunny morning, so they had to make use of artificial light to recreate a more grim surrounding.

The results of this shooting speak for themselves due to the collaboration and involvement of the whole team.