Angels, Ghosts & Humans

Every one I know who has participated in a Tucson All Souls’ Procession Weekend, as a walker, watcher, or performer, has a story of being unexpectedly moved, shaken, or awed. “I saw ghosts rising from that vacant lot. I swear I did,” said one acrobat, pointing across the street toward where an old city graveyard once sat. “I really miss my daddy, so I’m making this,” said a five year old girl working on a mini-shrine of twigs and grass in Armory Park for her deceased father. “I felt my mother’s presence beside me the whole way,” said one middle-aged woman, waiting to watch the Finale. “I was brought to tears by the sounds of the bagpipes,” said a man in a kilt as we ascended from beneath the Fourth Avenue underpass. “Every time I saw Lois’s face projected on that big wall, I burst into tears,” said a woman, who stood on the roof of a warehouse along the route. These stories are at the same time both personal and universal. Like all good stories. “What makes All Souls’ so amazing to me,” said a long time walker of the Sunday Procession, “is we are all having this very personal experience while walking with thousands of other people, who are also having a very personal experience while walking with thousands of other people. It’s really hard to put into words.” Yes, it is. So here is a collection of 205 images from 30 Many Mouths One Stomach media circle photographers and videographers who had their own universal yet personal moments at the 2013 Tucson All Souls’ Procession Weekend. Ghosts float, angels fly, and humans walk, in early November in Tucson, each of the last 24 years. This coming November, it’ll be 25. Please come walk, float or fly with us and you will have your own story to tell. With words, pictures, or perhaps shown by the tears on your face or the look of wonder in your eyes. Stu Jenks Studio BR-549 Tucson, Arizona January, 2014