In April-May 2019 my partner and I took a trip to Cancun in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Part beach holiday, part trip-of-a-lifetime to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and Tulum, our time in the sun also provided many opportunities to whip out the camera and snap a few shots. I had wanted to pack my Bronica etrs medium format, which is a joy to use and can be stripped down to a basic frame to save a few precious ounces. The thought of photographing the Mayan pyramid at Chicen Itza was appealling in the extreme, but I had lingering concerns about taking roll film through airport scanners and I was limited to the amount of gear I could take with me. Online discussions about the airport scanner issue genrally seemed to agree that it was low risk unless using very low ISO rated films which are more sensitive. There was also guidance on asking airport staff to visually inspect the film rather than passing it through the scanners, but in the end I opted to pack my Fugi XT10 digital camera for ease. I also didn't want to create delays for other people should the film pose a problem. My initial plan was to shoot long exposures of the pyramid on the Bronnie with a ND 10 filter. This would eliminate people wandering through the frame and possibly do something interesting with the featureless blue skies of a hot bright day in Mexico. My decision to pack light was probably the right since upon arriving at Chicen Itza I learned that tripods are forbidden and while there was a chap with a Rolleiflex and a couple of young American tourists with 35mm film cameras, the MF would probably have been a problem when trying to keep up with a tour. GoPros and drones were also outlawed. A monopod walking stick could be a workaround.
The digital camera was probably the best option, but I must confess to a certain degree of regret in not taking a film camera. I also didn't pack a zoon lens, taking instead a beautiful 135mm and 50mm set. The 50 didn't get any use, but the 135mm did a great job, although again I wish I'd packed my zoom to pick out some of the more distant details which were otherwise inaccessible. The lesson: always take the zoom - it is well worth the extra weight!
Black and white on the digital worked very well with the architectural shots, but not so great for panoramics and wildlife. Some of the birdlife was spectacular and without the zoom I was limited by what I could do. The XT10 is a wonderful, compact little camera, which I have fitted with a Canon FD lens adaptor which allows me use my expanding collection of vintage Canon FDs. A lens hood would have also been a good addition, but sadly the one I took only fits the 50mm (silly mistake) although having said that, there were only a couple of shots that were badly affected.
The ruins were unlike anything I have seen before. The large pyramid sits in a large flat plain, banked fore and aft by additional temples and the famed ball-game arena that we learned was purely for ceremonial purposes owing to the fact that the goal rings (stone rings that stuck out from the walls like mug handles) were too high and too small to actually serve a practical sporting purpose. The guide emphasised again and again how every inch of the site was layered with symbolism - a vast, sprawling monument to sacred knowledge. The pyramid had been re-skinned, like a snake, every 52 years, with each previous structure forming another layer of architectural substrate. The sun, moon and stars were echoed, along with the names and deeds of gods, across multiple surfaces or rendered into numeric symbols. And this, repeating over and over again, for 42 square miles, and still there are secrets yet to be revealed.
With lizards basking in the searing heat of the day, the white-grey scales of the ruins at Tulum seemed to whisper back to us the footsteps of previous vistors shuffling back through time.
