![]() It's true that he is a genius, and I'm not just saying that because he's my boss. He mostly does administrative stuff, managing photographers and editors over a breadth of 30 countries, but every now and then he shoots too. a veteran photographer who cut his teeth working in conflict zones, is now the regional director of photography and was on the ground in Cuba for the papal visit. There was an agreement to post in the square format, but I have to break that promise for my last post, because I couldn't bear to crop this image, yet I wanted to share with you the genius of Enric Marti's photographic eye. During the historic 1998 papal visit the 16-inch figure was taken from its sanctuary and taken to Santiago de Cuba for a coronation ceremony, where John Paul placed a crown on the doll-sized statue, and then put an even smaller crown on the infant Jesus she bears in her arms. Unlike Pope John Paul II, Francis will visit the sanctuary in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra. Pope Francis will be the third pontiff to make the trek to far-eastern Cuba to visit the religious icon. While this version of the Virgin Mary is recognized by the Catholic Church, she is also adored by practitioners of Cuban Santeria, who associate her with the Yoruba deity Ochun, goddess of sweet water and gold. The embroidery on the cassock represents the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's patron saint. It's so easy to forget about the anonymous worker bees who make these events seamless. They're the ones that surprise me with their quiet, simple elegance and bring to the fore the behind the scenes of the making of big happenings. This sort of picture goes into my mundane yet beautiful images' file. Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's Patron Saint So you could say we are tripling our efforts. Just to give you an idea of how serious, on Sundays the LatAm photo desk in Mexico City usually opens at midday, and only for eight hours, with one photo editor. This time I will be fully tuned-in when Pope Francis arrives in Havana where he'll find a more influential church since John Paul's prophetic words during that historic visit, "May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba." The serious work begins this Sunday starting at 7am, with all hands on deck. I had given birth just nine days earlier. It barely registers for me as I was busy nursing my newborn baby daughter in Nicaragua. A frail-looking Pope John Paul II was met on the tarmac by Fidel Castro, the leader of a communist government that had once banned Catholic schools and sent priests, including the current archbishop of Havana to prison or work camps. But the pope's visit to Cuba in 1998 was a HUGE deal. Generally speaking, papal visits are a big deal. Opportunity came a-knocking and a job became available in Mexico City, which fit into a plan Anita had been hatching on how to get back to Latin America. After 10 years of living outside the U.S., Anita moved to the enemy state of Texas, working as a photo editor at the San Antonio Express-News. Soon thereafter, Anita joined the AP as a contract photographer in Central America during the quiet times, the early 90's. So began her photojournalism career as she cut her teeth at the college newspaper, The Daily Lobo, while stringing for the local evening paper, the Albuquerque Tribune. In the end, her love for photography led her to ditch the pre-med program. That idea didn't last very long, either, and instead of raising children of her own, she thought it would be more interesting to study other people's kids and embarked on a pre-med program specializing in developmental psychology. ![]() When Anita was 10 years old, she thought she wanted to be an architect, but then decided she was going to be a stay-at-home Mom and have 12 children. Anita Baca is a photo editor for the AP's Latin America and Caribbean photo desk in Mexico City.
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