In the towns of the highlands of central Mexico, most houses are right on the sidewalk and share a common façade. Where two adjacent properties come together, often the delineation is by paint alone and occasionally with some masonry. In San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, both UNESCO World Heritage cities, the prevailing style is to paint walls with a contrasting color on a lower segment coming up a few feet from the sidewalk. For the most part, traditional iron-rich earth tones of brown, red, ochre, and yellow are used, but sometimes, especially in Guanajuato, there are brighter colors outside of this limited range: blues, greens, and even whites and grays. Where houses are built on hills the lower painted section often does not align with the adjacent higher property’s section. And each property owner chooses how the property is to be painted. Or not. Taken out of context, the point of intersection, the border, creates some fascinating juxtapositions of abstract form, color, and texture.

Neighboring Colors #15: Photograph by Will Tenney
Photographs by Will Tenney Return to NEIGHBORING COLORS button

Neighboring Colors #15


Copyright © 2017 by Will Tenney. All rights reserved.
Please do not copy without prior written permission.

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