WITNESS NO. 4 PHOTOGRAPHS BY EDUARDO DEL VALLE AND MIRTA GOMEZ. NAZRAELI PRESS, TUCSON, 2007. 77 PP., 77 FOUR-COLOR PLATES., 9½X12". FOR THIS FOURTH VOLUME IN THE WITNESS SERIES, EDUARDO DEL VALLE AND MIRTA GOMEZ PRESENT PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN IN THE YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO WHERE FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS THEY HAVE FOCUSED ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE VERNACULAR DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE REGION. THE HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM'S SELECTION FOR THIS VOLUME IS COMPRISED OF 'SECTIONS OF TIME,' A VOLUMINOUS ON-GOING PROJECT WHERE THE SAME DWELLINGS ARE PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE SAME SPOT OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS, BEARING WITNESS TO HOW THE STRUCTURES ARE AFFECTED BY SEASONAL CHANGES AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME. THE FASCINATION THAT DEL VALLE AND GOMEZ HAVE WITH THESE HOUSES HAS COME TO EPITOMIZE THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATION AS FIRST GENERATION IMMIGRANTS - AND LIKE THE HOUSES THEY PHOTOGRAPH, THEY, TOO, HAVE HAD TO ADAPT, CHANGE AND EVOLVE IN ORDER TO SURIVIVE. WITNESS NUMBER 4 CLOSES WITH A PRESENTATION OF WORK BY TWO OTHER CUBAN-AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO, LIKE DEL VALLE AND GOMEZ, WITNESSED THE START OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION IN THE LATE 1950S AND WHO ALSO EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE EARLY '60S: TONY MENDOZA AND ABELARDO MORELL VIA PHOTO-EYE
