Gordon Abbott was a twentieth-century American photographer who spent much of his professional life working in Mexico and Guatemala and died in Mexico City in 1951. More than mere travel photography, his work captures the spirit of the places and scenes he witnessed. Instead of the flashy images suited for tourists’ guidebooks, Abbott created photos of a more contemplative nature.

Janitizio, shot in the 1940s, is a silver gelatin print of fishing nets drying in the sun on the Isla de Janitzio, Mexico.  The main island in Lake Patzcuaro, Janitzio translates as, “where it rains,” and can only be reached by boat.  The nets depicted belong to the local butterfly fisherman who pursued the small and brightly colored fish, closely related to angelfish, which frequented the shallows surrounding the island.   The graceful rhythms of the nets at once evoke the ever-present clouds of the rainy season and the elegant forms of the fish they catch. Two fishermen and their boat are visible, as well as the mountains of Michoacán.

By Kelly Boyd, Academic Year Wilson Intern, FA 2010

4 labels and 2 stamps on verso:
1. Label for International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography, Leicester, England, 1947
2. Label for Southport Photographic Society, 1947
3. Label for Seattle International Exhibition of Photography, 1946
4. Label for International Exhibition of Photography in Denmark, 1946
1. Stamp: "No. 4 'Janitzio' Gordon C. Abbott, P.S.A., Calle de las Delicias, 3. Taxco, Gro. Mexico. Bromide
2. Stamp: Anthracite Photographic Salon rating
In pencil on verso: "Scripps College Ph8"

Black and white bromide photograph, unmounted.

This object has the following keywords:

• Coastal

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