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	Judges' Comments
	"A window into another culture, wonderfully captured and displayed."

Seeing the lives of the Harahumara Indians in Mexico is like walking into another world. Rodolfo Gonzalez’s remarkable photos show the pride and poverty of a beautiful people who are struggling to survive drought and deforestation.

Shucking corn, Maria Solomena lives in a cave and wears a scarf of smiling faces. A farmer butchers a cow in the street. Dancers perform traditional dances to encourage rain.

The photos are documents of a people who ask only for a chance to grow food and live traditional lives. Gonzalez photographed them with compassion and respect. His photos reveal the poverty but they also show a proud people.

"I spent about three days with the Tarahumara Indians with reporter Susan Ferriss of Mexico City," recalled the Austin American-Statesman photographer.

"The interiors of Mexico and their people are incredibly scenic and beautiful to photograph. It is very unfortunate that they live in such poverty with only faith and hope to guide them.

"I used a Nikon F5 and Leica M6 range-finder, choosing to use film instead of digital to capture the vibrant colors and low light.

"As luck would have it we visited a small mountain village just as its people were getting ready for spiritual celebration and feast.

"The story was one of a series that questioned the fate of Mexico’s indigenous peoples."

Gonzalez also is Cox’s photographer of the year.

"It has been one of my more successful years as a photojournalist," Gonzalez said. "Without the support from the staff, the photo editors and Photo Director Zach Ryall, it could have been a very different year altogether."