The Mexico Years
1979 - 2010
Photo series by Sylvia de Swann
I started my career in Mexico City in the 1960s (I lived there for eleven years from 1962-73. I was a painter, collagist and maker of artist books. I had many solo exhibitions and was an active member of the arts community. At some point when coming to the end of a body of work I was thinking about what to do next, when the photographer, Rodrigo Moya offered to take me on as an apprentice. I traded him a transistor radio for an old Nikon and headed out with him to “shoot,” and what was meant as a temporary digression ended up being a change in medium.
El Perro
Rancho Tamyan
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2010
La Sombra
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2010
Las Raices
Rancho El Bejuco
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2010
Los Antepasados (the ancestors)
Rancho El Bejuco
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2010
Sara Garcia Iglesias (my sister in law)
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2010
Sara Garcia Iglesias was mayor of Ozuluama in the early 1960s. She was the first woman in Mexico to have been elected to public, and in this photo was visited by president Adolfo Lopez Mateos. He helped her obtain government funding to build a k-12 school, a municipal building, a jail, and other public works. She was known and beloved for many miles around for her honesty and responsiveness to people’s concerns
El Huapanguero
2010
La Huasteca is a cultural region located in Mexico along the Gulf of Mexico which includes parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potos; and Queretaro. It is known for a style of music and dance called the Huapango.
Salomon de Swaan
Date Unkown
“Salomon de Swaan, an architect, my former husband and father of our wonderful son Simon de Swaan”
Rodrigo Moya
Cuernavaca
2010
“Rodrigo Moya, great photographer, neighbor and friend who in the late 1950s & early 60s traveled extensively in Central and South America documenting the guerilla movements of the day. He took me on as an apprentice when I was looking for a digression from my work as a multimedia artist & gave me a push in a direction that I’ve continued ever since.”
Celebrating Leo de Swaan’s 70th birthday
Rancho Tamyan
Ozuluama. Veracruz
2010
Leo & his two brothers (Salamon and Bram) were born in Chile, of a Chilean mother and Dutch father. (He) has adopted Mexican nationality and Huasteca identity.
Christmas Market
Mexico
2010
Plaza
Ozuluama, Veracruz
2009
Mexico has an abundance of wonderful tropical fruits year round. Traditionally people used to drink fruits juices, but with the advent of global advertising, coca-cola has become the most consumed beverage allover Mexico.
La Santa Muerte (The Saint of Death)
Mexico
2010
La Santa Muerte (The Saint of Death) is a symbol of the drug cartel era. It didn’t exist when I lived here, but now it’s everywhere - on trucks, Tshirts, tattoos, graffiti, statuary & so on. As the saying goes “dios me proteje y ella me guia” (“God protects me but she guides me”)