Oaxaca is considered the cultural and historical heart of Mexico, a city where the traditions of the Zapotecs and Mixtecs have been alive for centuries. On our first trip here I found in the beautiful streets a play of light and colour, of the old and the living. With the camera in hand a surprise waited around every corner, and the old lens produced pictures I hadn’t expected.
Streets full of colour
Most of all I liked exploring the streets with the camera, lanes in rich yellow, red and turquoise where life and decay stand side by side. Oaxaca is a centre for artists in Mexico, from cooks working with chilli and chocolate to street artists whose murals turn grey façades into explosions of colour. These amazing murals thrilled me just as much as the old buildings, whose colours are fading and which are all the more beautiful for it.
A journey through time on wheels
As a contrast to this art I came across wonderful classic cars – Chevrolet Bel Airs and Ford Falcons with rust and shine. In front of the colourful, partly run-down house walls they were a subject I couldn’t walk past.
Mole negro, tlayudas and mezcal
But Oaxaca is more than pictures. The food here is a feast, from mole negro with dark chocolate and spices to crispy, spicy tlayudas. The highlight was an espresso made from fermented coffee beans with a dash of mezcal. We still make this coffee at home today in our old Pavoni espresso machine, and with every cup we’re back in Oaxaca for a moment.
A diary in pictures
My days in Oaxaca swung between bustle and calm. With every release of the old lens I tried to capture something fleeting: the glow of a mural, the light on a classic car, the scent of a spice market. For me these pictures are a diary of the colours, sounds and tastes of this city.
Here they are: the streets, the food and the art waiting on every corner in Oaxaca.
Green braids and a flower crown on the blue street corner – Oaxaca begins in colour.A canopy of green and beige diamonds casts shadows on the house wall.A stone fountain in the churchyard, the yellow wall beside it.An agave in front of the stone wall, long shadows on the ground.Torn posters on a red wall, a wrestling bout among them.A skeleton with a trombone and corn cobs between the window grilles.A round millstone set in the masonry beneath red plaster – old and alive side by side.A golden altar and white stucco arches in a church in Oaxaca.A lit-up food cart in front of the stone façade at night.A painted skeleton in a hat and striped shirt among marigolds.A painted skull with hummingbirds and marigolds.A rusty white Dodge with flat tyres in the long grass.A pale blue VW Beetle with rust spots by the yellow kerb.Blue tiled steps and a stencil of women with clay pots.A blue corner house with posters, a white Beetle in front.Blue tiles with red edges, flaking and beautiful.A laughing woman with braids, ringed by a circle of lettering on the ochre wall.A whole procession on the wall, paper bunting above.A heart, flowers and hummingbirds on the wall beside a green shutter.A skeleton with roses in her hair and a candle – grey façades turned into explosions of colour.A red Beetle in front of a wall with cats and graffiti.Three painted figures with a hat, an umbrella and flowers.A jaguar among leaves and red berries.A rusty VW hubcap, the yellow kerb beside it.Pale blue paint peeling away, faded letters underneath.A doll with dark braids and an embroidered blouse.A man in a straw hat beside a painted Catrina on the pink wall.A peeling red poster with remnants of lettering.The photographer in a round mirror – with the old lens.Stepped stone blocks in a dark opening in the wall.A window grille in front of pale panes covered in writing.American and Rambler – badges on a white body.A huge mural rising above the masonry.Skeletons with drums and a big bass drum on a white wall.Renault 12 TS – chrome, rust and a tail light.Hooded skeleton figures in front of a wall of black skulls.Dunas y Churros El Vega and a paletería – sweet corners of Oaxaca.A painted monkey among real cacti.Columnar cacti and prickly pears in the landscape near Oaxaca.Prickly pears packed close together, with pale spines.A flowering tree and the decorated walls of Mitla.Bands of stone mosaic above the red wall, an agave in front – the ruins of Mitla.A geometric stone mosaic on the wall of a chamber in Mitla.Stone columns in the courtyard, seen from the dark.Cross and step friezes above a red wall and a path to the ruins.Openings in the wall with a zigzag frieze in Mitla.A pink house with agaves in front.The edge of a green agave leaf with spines against a dark background.White mineral cascades above the water at Hierve el Agua.White sinter terraces, twice up close.Wooded ridges above a wide valley.Cacti and agaves along the path.Agave leaves from the side and against the light.La Colmena, house number 106 and a wrought-iron grille on a yellow door.A torn poster of a colourful, fragmented figure.Custom – a badge on rusty metal.Grilles and fuel caps of old cars, rust and shine.Chevelle – the badge above the twin headlights.Skeletons on the wall and a Jalatlaco banner.Cut-up photos of heads and hands on a painted wall.Grand Marquis and North Park – badges on the fender.Crumbling plaster, exposed bricks and an old wooden door.Three crouching figures on a crumbling house wall, a red pillar in front.Colourful painted faces and flowers on the wall.Reposado, Añejo, Pechuga – wall lettering for mezcal, a black jug below.
