This one photo changed everything.

I’m not a professional photographer, have never even tried to sell any of my photos, but this single photo forever changed me and led to the creation of Vibrant Guatemala.

My family and I had recently arrived in Antigua, Guatemala and had immediately fallen in love with the colonial architecture, the innumerable ruins scattered all around the city, the cobblestone streets, the bustling city square, and the colorful wares being sold by the local women in the area.

My wife and I were strolling around when we were approached by a woman selling woven crafts. As we travel full time, we tend NOT to buy things that aren’t necessary, so although her handicrafts were gorgeous and extremely well made, we declined. (Declining is very difficult while traveling because of the disparity of money, and we always try to help in some way)

However, I wanted to offer this woman something, so I asked if I could pay her to take her photo. She agreed and posed with one of her beautiful scarves. I paid her a small token and thought nothing of it until I looked at the photo later that day. Framed under the iconic arch of Antigua, with Volcan de Agua in the background, the woman’s colorful image literally jumped off the screen and into my heart.

I set the image as the background on my phone and knew immediately that I wanted to share this breathtaking image with the woman I had photographed. But despite walking through the same area for weeks, we didn’t encounter her again for over a month. Once we finally ran into her by pure chance, I quickly found a print shop, printed the image, and gave it to her in a simple frame. She was clearly moved by both the photo and the gift.

From that day on, we saw the same woman nearly every time we ventured to the square. Eventually, in a halting mix of my poor Spanish and her limited English, I learned that her name was Raquel and that she sold the weavings that she laboriously made with her “backstrap weaving” loom. The more I saw Raquel, the more I wanted to find some way to help her.

Slowly the idea of a marketplace for her work began to form. Would she be interested in selling her wares online? To people outside of Guatemala? Raquel was very interested; her family could use the additional money to help bring them consistent running water and electricity to the very simple frame house that they had.

I really wanted to see Raquel working at her loom so that I could take photos and use them to promote her work. She invited the entire family to her humble space in the next town. It was on that trip that we met Irla, another local woman who so openly invited us to meet her family and visit in her home as well. All the women in Irla’s extended family were also weavers, using the same traditional method of the “backstrap weaving” loom to weave beautiful cloth that became table runners, pillows, scarves, clothing, and more. With so many beautiful weavings from these two families, Vibrant Guatemala was created.

Unlike many marketplace sellers who buy in bulk and bargain with the crafters for the lowest prices then take items back to the US to sell, never sharing profits with the creators, Vibrant Guatemala is a true partnership with Raquel and Irla and the proceeds go directly to helping them, their families, and the community of traditional crafters in the Antigua area. The one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted items are shipped directly from Guatemala, so you know that they are authentic and made with love. We hope that you appreciate the time and effort that went into crafting all of the beautiful items here.