"LAS CARAS DE LA MIXTECA- THE FACES OF MIXTECA"

The Mixteca Region is part of the Mexican states of Puebla, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, and is unified by the Mixtec language of which about half of the regional population speaks. Mixtec is one of over 70 of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic languages, with a number of dialects within it. The region is sparse and mountainous with its isolated communities being among the last to be ruled by the Spanish Conquistadors. To this day many small villages have only remote access with poor public transport and little funding from the government for more than shabby dirt roads. Its geographic and thus linguistic isolation has helped preserve its indigenous traditions and culture.

The Mixteca Region, and Oaxaca in general, is known as one of the more culturally profound areas of Mexico. This series of images come from a number of interviews that were held while creating a documentary of a local community advocate in the Tlaxiaco Region and its surrounding towns. The emphasis was towards meeting people who live and work from local production of agriculture and artisanal goods . The is currently a revival in Tlaxiaco to promote organic farming and use of indigenous plants and materials, with hopes of diminishing the need for imported/hazardous chemicals and seeds while reinvesting in a local economy. In the past years a communal “Tianguis” was created where local producers of various goods/ artists / and cultural events can be exchanged, and staged. These images also document some of the people involved in the community marketplace.