Photographer Rodrigo Abd takes old-style photography to a traditional culture festival in Guatemala.

At the Rabin Ajau National Folkloric Festival and Indian beauty contest, don't go looking for a swimsuit competition or speeches about world peace.

Unlike traditional beauty contests, the panel of judges rates the participants not only for their leadership skills, but their commitment to the rescue and maintenance of Mayan values. To become Guatemala's Rabin Ajau, or Queen Daughter, women ranging in age from 14 to 26 go through numerous rounds of competition, including a speech that must be given in their native dialect and Spanish. Rosa Lidia Aguar Castro, 23, wept after she was selected the new Rabin Ajau.

In between these events, Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd used a 19th-century-style wooden box camera as he captured a portrait of each participant in Guatemala City. The contestants had to hold still for up to two minutes as Abd made exposures with light shining directly from the lens onto photo paper inside the box camera.

(China Daily 10/30/2011 page6)