Journal

One of the projects Mary Anne has been working on over the last few months has been to write a portion of a book chronicling the rug hooking artisans in Guatemala who are part of Multicolores, a nonprofit she and Jody Slocum co-founded. No book that describes the cacophony of color and motifs of these rugs would be complete without incredible photos.

So, last week Mary Anne and 2 members of Multicolores, Cheryl Conway & Rosaria Giron had the privilege of accompanying the publisher’s talented team to photograph the artisans, their rugs, their families and their surroundings for the upcoming book. The book will be published by Thrums Books next year. Click here and you can read the announcement by Thrums Books.

The photos for the book were taken by Joe Coca who is based in Ft Collins and has spent his career traveling the world taking pictures. Watching Joe at work, Mary Anne said, “he has a way of seamlessly inserting himself into the scene as if he does not possess a corporeal body."

Karen Brock, Assistant Editor at Thrums, brought along samples of Thrums books for the rug hookers to view. As they paged through the books, they realized their portraits and their work would be in print for all to see. They could also see that the photos were going to be beautiful and with a dawning awareness everyone broke out in wide smiles.

The photo sessions were inspirational for Mary Anne too. "I'm a little weak in the knees with all that has to be done to complete the book but after seeing how Joe could connect with the artisans and make them comfortable and smile and how the women were so willing to tell their story, I'm ready to get home and finish up the work. Accompanying Joe, Karen, Cheryl & Rosario into the rug hooking communities to shoot for this book has been a privilege of a lifetime."