Today Elena Poniatowska presents Rafael Doníz’s book about ‘Popo’ and ‘Izta’

To Mexicans, a greater god gave us two volcanoes to revere. From the first light of dawn to the last ray of the moon, we surrender to its greatnesswrites Elena Poniatowska at the beginning of her essay A hot look on the snowin the book Popocatépetl-Iztaccíhuatl: Sacred Mountainsby photographer Rafael Doníz.

In Mexico, Volcanoes are our parents. None more master of Mexico than Popocatépetl. None more jealous of the honor of the country than Iztaccíhuatl. Now that Gerardo Murillo is no longer here, Dr. AtlWhat painters, photographers, doctors, climbers, poets, geologists and nature lovers pay homage to them? asks the writer and journalist.

Answer: “Among the countless lovers of the Popo and the Iztathe most constant, the most engaged, is a skinny photographer with a camera on his shoulder, several black rolls in hand and eyes open to bursting. He never gets lethargic, the mountain has already swallowed all his senses. His camera burns in his hands, his lens encompasses Iztaccíhuatl like a lover embraces the body of his beloved with a single glance.”

Doníz responds to Poniatowska: “When I was very young I decided to climb to the summit of the Popo. After several failed attempts, a good guide from the region advised me to ask the volcano for permission. So I did it. The effort to climb was devastating. The top of Popo It is 5,452 meters above sea level; It is the second highest in the country after the Pico de Orizaba. My body lost more than five kilos, but I managed to reach the highest point. That victory marked me forever.

“Since then, like the weather and the hailstorms, I revere Popocatépelt and Iztaccíhuatl. Already trained as a photographer, I undertook the task of capturing images to pay tribute to our grandparents, the Popo and the Izta. The volcana was ahead of him Popo throughout several stages of the so-called late Pleistocene, 2.56 million years ago.”

That a volcano possesses the will of an artist and invades all the acts of his life can be a curse, but loving and honoring Popocatépetl and his wife, Iztaccíhuatl, was the only way that Doníz found to give meaning to his life, he says. Poniatowska.

Over time, the photographer learned to walked all its paths, discovered even the most secret of its folds, the smallest of its mosses. Unlike the Dr. Atl, has kept the members of his body intact.

The author notes that the love obsession of Doníz has lasted more than 50 years. For “the exploring photographer, loving two volcanoes and possessing them through his lens is a privilege that allows him to explore the volcanic elevations like the body of a woman. He dedicates the white hours of his day, the black hours of his night, to observing every inch: sometimes he finds the profile of her nose, as enigmatic as that of Leonardo da Vinci’s Beatrice d’Este. Other times, he discovers the sweetness of her breasts, the openness of her legs, the slush of her hair that undulates until it descends down her back to the ground.”

However, Today, to Doníz’s sadness, volcanoes are no longer our obligatory backdrop except on privileged days in September or October. The washerwomen go up to the roofs to watch them while they wait for their sheets to dry.. Before, “the Popo and the Itza They came to meet us at the first crossroads, like two neighbors happy to agree: ‘Let’s go have a drink.’ “Still in the 50s it was easy to go partying with them or ask for their blessing, but today the antennas of the skyscrapers burst the sky like a thousand knives.”

Despite everything, “with the eagerness of an ant, we Mexicans climb with devotion to the Popo already Itza. It is a rite, a tribute, the sacred ceremony of many young devotees.”

The book also contains quotes from indigenous personalities, such as Nezahualcóyotl. The historian Alfredo López Austin was in charge of translating some texts into Nahuatl.

the book Popocatépetl-Iztaccíhuatl: Sacred Mountains (Artes de México/Rama Ediciones) will be presented by Poniatowska, Doníz, Carlos Pellicer López and Víctor Muñoz today at 6:30 p.m. at the Elena Poniatowska Foundation (José Martí 105, Escandón neighborhood).