Colors In Oaxaca Have Stories To Tell

If Only Our Eyes Will Listen Quietly

GE McKerrihan
4 min readMay 17, 2022
A woman walks past a faded rose colored wall between two barred windows.
“Faded Rose Wall” — Image by Author

A fading rose colored wall creates a warm background for a passerby who seems to prefer blues and grays. The soft cloudy light of morning treats all equally in a gentle glow.

When a building owner has an exterior wall painted he is wise to buy plenty of extra paint. As there will be regular touchups needed to cover the frequent graffiti.

The ancient tree blends perfectly with black screened, and barred windows. I’m guessing these darkened windows are never opened.

The ledges above the windows are studded with broken glass to make them uninhabitable for the many pigeons. So many exterior elements in Oaxaca are about repelling one nuisance or another.

A trained climbing vine with artificial flowers climbs up the side and over the top of a barred and boarded window.
“Artistic Climbing” — Image by Author

Many buildings in Oaxaca offer some form of humor to the passerby on the sidewalk. Here the climbing vine is stuffed full of artificial flowers and twigs.

I especially love the asymmetrical design. The wooden power pole does a fine job of visually holding space on its side of things.

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GE McKerrihan

I’ve been using the camera for nearly 50 years. I write about Photography, Art, Travel, and Life. Top Writer in Photography, Art, Creativity, and Inspiration.