Las Mexicanas

Las Mexicanas presents a careful selection of studio and vernacular photographs of Mexican women from the mid-nineteenth century to the 60s. Through the careful edition of Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, the set of images forms a portrait in which the journey of women’s empowerment is shown before the camera since the beginnings of photographic practice. Much of the body of images in this edition come from a private collection created during more than a decade of visits to the main flea markets in Mexico City with the complicity of connoisseurs, support from booksellers and merchants. Given its nature, the volume attracts a large audience interested not only in collecting and the study of photography, but also in the themes of social sciences, feminisms, and cultural representations. With the spirit of proposing an alternative starting poing for approaching photography, Las Mexicanas highlights the intimate and powerful relationship between the photographic medium, women and all those people who, in Mexico, were fortunate to have a camera in their hands.