Carol Yarrow

Carol Yarrow

One Mahogany Left Standing

October 1–November 2, 2014

Between 1995 and 2002, artist Carol Yarrow traveled multiple times to Chiapas, Mexico to photograph and live alongside approximately 200 Lacandon Maya based in the small village of Nahá. Various cultural and environmental changes have affected the Lacandon people over the last few centuries, including tourism, logging of the mahogany forests, and the arrival of Christian missionaries, but many Lacandon religious and social traditions remain integral to the Nahá community. Yarrow’s striking black-and-white gelatin silver prints capture the unique way of life in this village as well as the beauty of the land that surrounds it. The intimacy of these images also reflects the close friendships between the artist and the individuals she photographs, and her genuine concern for the future of the Lacandon Maya people.

“Cultural and environmental changes are swirling around the village of Nahá in southern Mexico. Now that the mahogany forests have been logged throughout the land, the wood that their boats are made of is gone... but the spirit of the Lacandon is still strong in the wake of these changes."

Carol Yarrow is a photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally at the Akiyoshidai International Art Center in Yamaguchi, Japan; the Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene, Texas; and locally at the Mark Woolley Gallery and the Portland Art Museum. Beyond Mexico, Yarrow has traveled to photograph in Guatemala, India, Cameroon, and Yamaguchi, Japan, where she completed an Associate Artist Residency with Nan Goldin. In addition to these travels, Yarrow has spent many years teaching photography to incarcerated adults and at-risk youth.