Supporting Information Biography 

              Julio Martinez, (b. 1969 - ) 

              Native Guatemalan, Resident in Los Angeles Since 1978.
 

            

 

Auto Art Biography
 

        By: Omar Lee: 1989

     Julio Martinez, began his foray into the art world with photography as a way to contain a moment,
     to some how preserve images that would other wise perish in human memory.

     He began painting in 1984 turning to the canvas and brush as a more personal tool to help bring
     to life some of the things that a lens could not.  Only experimenting at first Martinez
     became serious about painting in 1987 and began to devote his attention to his new form of expression.

     Martinez was born in Guatemala 1969 and came to The United States in 1978.  He earned praise
     and numerous awards for both photography and his painting, including a grant from the Junior Arts Center
     of Los Angeles to pursue his goals.

    Introduction to Oaxaca, by Tomas Benitez  2004

      ...not all of us who roam are lost...

   The wonder of mother nature is complex, and far more mysterious to understand with simple ease or little effort,
   less we solve the meaning of life as a mundane task, and in doing so, leave us with not much else to do.

   Still, Mother Nature is kind, and playful, and offers a profound vision of its majesty, if we do all which is required.
   All we have to do is take a few seemingly simple steps: forsake diffidence, listen to silence, look beyond the immediate
   panorama to see the truth of what lies beyond, and above all, humble ourselves to our role within the grandeur of nature.

   In Julio Martinez's brilliant photographic narrative, Oaxaca, we see glimpses of what nature has chosen to reveal
   to the accidental traveler. He has captured that what has been given to him, by his own admission, a power greater
   than his own appreciative eye and skillful artistry.

   Yet he has managed to give to us a sense of the spectacular setting of nature that only serves to garner an even
   greater respect for the random, mundane, and personal; the intimacy of private moments, instant yet enduring,
   emotions laid bare, caught in the gaze of smiling women, or trapped in the creases of the aged faces of the viejitos,
   the tilt of the gait of the flower lady, the arched back of the man with a broom, sweeping. In photos that reflect
   the posed brashness of his subject, he has deftly kept in the frame their dignity no matter, and in the shots
   that range from Pre-Columbian artifact (at Monte Alban) to the windows and doorways of the church at
   San Pedro Martir, he has maintained the vitality of the on-the- surface inanimate object/subject. The timeline
   of history, a life line that travels through thousands of years, occupied by dozens of epoch of culture and influences,
   is unbroken, a continuum that is evident in the documentation by Mr. Martinez.

   On a whim and alone, Julio flew to Oaxaca late fall 2003, to get away, get lost, and in doing so, found him surrounded
   by a roaring stillness, and an everyday vitality never before felt, not even upon visits to his native Guatemala.
   Determined to avoid the beaten path of the growing army of sandalistas that march to Oaxaca every year in search of beauty,
   color, and good deals, the intrepid adventurer soon found himself genuinely lost on a road not on any map, following
   directions now rendered suspect, fearing the coming night without an idea of where he was or the company of just a good
   warm coat. Then he found Yagul, and everything fell into place.

   The panoramas of land and animal crested by billowing clouds is reward enough, but to capture such views in perfect
   light and absolute timelessness compels one to recognize in an awkward submission that even now, today in the world,
   there is still magic. Oaxaca is one of those places, remote yet tangible, in no need of solution or rational explanation.
   In Oaxaca, Julio's purposeful accidents eventually exceeded his own expectations. The symbiosis of subject and photographer
   yielded the treasure he found, or what found him, in these few remarkable images. He is able to show us how seamless
   man and beast and nature live together, different yet in sync, edifying the harmony we aspire to but rarely achieve.

   Which one is your favorite? He asks, and I am left in a rare state, speechless. The explosion of inspired photography
   for me is but one long narrative. From the yellow wall/ goat to the girl with the accordion, the backdrop of farmers
   and animals, the mountains and magnificent sky, it is all one landscape. Those of us who know Julio know he is a man of few,
   and chosen words. In this case, his work speaks volumes about his skill and talent, his good fortune, and his love for one
   of the earths most astute and glowing representatives of Mother Nature, Oaxaca.