PhotoBooks Guatemala

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Color Photography book on the Mayan People of Guatemala and their struggle for human rights. Photographs by Vince Heptig and introduction by Nobel Peace Prize Laureat Rigoberta Menchu Tum.

Guatemala, shattered through 36 years of war and over 400 years of repression, may be on the verge of a rebirth as historic peace accords have recently been signed. Vince Heptig presents a photographic portrait of the Mayan people of Guatemala and their struggle for a better tomorrow. Over 100,000 Guatemalans, mostly Mayans, have been killed or disappeared in the struggle. Mr. Heptig's book includes more than 100 striking color images: Mayan ceremonies, massacre victims being exhumed, Mayans working on cotton and coffee plantations, protestors in the streets of the Capitol, Mayans celebrating traditional festivals, massacre victims crying for justice, Rigoberta Menchu fighting for indigenous rights, guerillla combatants in their jungle camps, and, finally, the joyous celebration on the signing of the peace accords. Mr. Heptig portrays the Mayans not as a people to be pitied but a strong and resiliant people who will carry Guatemala into the 21st Century. The book is bilingual Spanish/English.

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Describes the political situation in Guatemala, shows citizens of Guatemala, and argues that hundreds are still kidnapped, tortured, and killed by government security forces.

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Stunning photographic images of the Maya Indians in Guatemala excavating and reviving their buried culture. After 500 years of colonial suppression and a brutal civil war, the Maya Indians in Guatemala finally have a chance to live in peace. Latin America's longest civil war ended on December 29, 1996, with a peace accord between the conservative government of President Arzu and the Marxist guerrilla group URNG. According to official estimates, 150,000 people were killed in the thirty-six-year war, and another 50,000 are still missing. Most of the victims were Maya Indians who were brutally oppressed by both sides of the conflict.

Now the Maya are searching the killing fields for their dead, rediscovering their own grandiose culture and history. They are finally free to practice their ancient religion at remote altars on mountaintops, in caves, ravines or near waterfalls, and to begin to heal their souls. Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker visited Guatemala three times in 1997. He has captured many aspects of this remarkable period of transition in an array of astonishing, full-color shots that will disturb, enchant, and ultimately instruct.

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