Photography and words by Juan Mattey – www.juanmattey.com
Model: Lorena Czitrom
Guide’s: El amigo Fabian Tour
“I was in Merida, Yucatan on honeymoon with my wife and we saw a tiktok about Homun, a small town less than 1 hour from Merida. Homun is supposed to be one with an incredible number of cenotes, some of which are open to the public.
My wife and I drove to Homun in the morning and met Baltazar, who works with Fabian at a local tourism company. We visited 4 cenotes with him. In one of them I said to Leonor, my wife, that I would like to come back in a few months to take some photos there because I really liked the cenotes and the way the light falls there. My wife replied : “And if you do it tomorrow? You have the whole day off”.
I started thinking about this possibility. In Homun we had no mobile reception and we had to wait until we were back in Merida. When we arrived in Merida, we started looking for a model who would help me with this project. It was 6pm and I had to convince a model to drive out of town to take some photos in a cenote. Since there is no modelling agency in Merida and I didn’t meet anyone, it looked like an impossible mission. I asked a friend I met in Monterrey last year about a model here, and she told me, “There’s only one model in Merida, and I don’t know if she’s in town,” and then she shared Lorena’s profile with me.
I texted Lorena, explained the whole context to her. She was also excited about the idea and in the evening she gave me the final okay: “Let’s do it!” I now wrote to Fabian to whom I also explained my idea and what exactly I needed for the photos. Fabian and his people were so kind, patient and helped us so much!
I wanted Lorena to be the main character living in this paradise. I said to her, “I want you to come here and discover this beautiful place that I already know”, not that you discover this place, but that you are part of this paradise.
The rest is history.
Thank you to Lorena, who is a wonderful person and a role model. To Fabian, Baltazar and everyone else who helped us a lot, and to my wife Leonor who always supported me.”
Model: Lorena Czitrom @lorenaaczitrom
Photographer: Juan Mattey @juanmattey www.juanmattey.com
Guide’s: El amigo Fabian Tour @tourselamigofabian
