Claudia Luna's photographic work.
This week I'm happy to share with you a little about Mexican culture thanks to the photographic work of Claudia Luna, a Mexican photojournalist and documentarian who for more than 13 years has been documenting the women of Mexico in photographs and video. She was the winner of various awards with her documentary work, registering the face of these women, their walk through her life, their life, showing their culture, struggles and smiles. For Claudia "These Mexican women are the example of powerful women, with stories on their shoulders and on their faces."
The lines of my life.
Woman from the Sierra Norte de Cuetzalan, Puebla. Every Sunday morning, in the village square, she goes out to work selling the handicrafts that she makes herself.
Selling baskets
Woman from Cuetzalan, Puebla, selling the baskets that she weaves with her own hands.
At the Market
Cuetzalan artisan women talking in the market. The women are still wearing the traditional dresses and blouses of their land, hand-embroidered with bright colours. In this town the backstrap loom is still used to make blankets, girdles, tablecloths, among other products.
Some Products
Detail of the products that are sold in the markets such as the tortillero, that small hand-embroidered circular cloth. Claudia says that Mexican people put the warm tortillas there. We can also see bags of pepper, the red one is called Chiltepil, it is a red, dry chilli that is very hot. We can also see vanilla, cinnamon sticks, coffee ... he says that in this region they have one of the best coffees in the country.
Artisan Woman
Woman ordering her products in the market, blouses that she has probably embroidered herself in Cuetzalan, Puebla.
Las Fuertes
"The strong". Woman with typical costume from Juchitán, in the state of Oaxaca, during the festivities of "La Regada o las Velas", a traditional religious festival that is celebrated in the month of May and where the inhabitants put on their best clothes to pay homage to his saints by bringing him candles. The woman wears a ‘glow or head huipil’ made of lace that includes an embroidered strap holán. She can be styled in two ways, with her hair braided on the sides with coloured ribbons, or with the braids tied over her head in a bun with coloured ribbons equally woven into each other. The right side of her head is adorned with a cluster of golden flowers and beads called "rain."
Carrying the Candles
Young woman from Juchitán dressed in the traditional costume of her region carries the candles that she will deliver to the church in honor of San Vicente Ferrer, the main patron of the town.
Women in Juchitan
Group of Women with their traditional costumes carrying their candles. Every year a family volunteers to preside over the candle patronage and the entire community joins the parties where they eat and dance all over the night.
Formerly the organisers took to the streets in carts pulled by horses or oxen adorned with natural flowers. At present these parties are headed by the stewards of the candle, men mounted on horseback, who accompany the queen of the party and her court of honor, the captains. Along the way they throw flowers, fruit, souvenir toys and sweets for the children.
Group of women carrying floral offerings during the parade.
Both the candles and the flowers will be brought to the church and used as decorations at the mass the next day.
“Activist Catrina”
This is how women in Mexico protest every November 1st, so with the face of the Catrina and the names of the women who have been victims of femicide, they give voice to the voiceless. This photograph is part of a series that Claudia is doing on femicide in Mexico. This photo was taken on the Xaltepelt hill of the Iztapalapa mayor's office in Mexico City. On this hill every year from October they begin to sow the cempaxúchitl flower, the country's emblematic flower for the celebration of the Day of the Dead.
"Colors of life"
Woman Wixarika Nayarit, indigenous people of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, from the state of San Luis Potosí, who since 1998 are part of the World Network of Sacred Natural Sites of UNESCO. Claudia tells us ‘I took this photograph during a concert called Wiricuta, where several artists from the world of rock, reggae and Ska gathered in defense of the sacred lands of the Wixarikas because several transnational companies wanted to exploit the mines that exist there. Several young people from this community performed at the concert, proud of their roots, among them this beautiful woman stood out. When I interviewed her, she told me that she was studying medicine and now she is the doctor in her community.
I hope you have enjoyed this little trip to know the faces of some Mexican women and their culture. Thank you very much Claudia for sharing your wonderful work with us. You can continue to see Claudia's work on Instagram.
Claudia Luna: claudia_lunafotografa