Graciela Iturbide Mexican, b. 1942

In 1979, Iturbide was invited by the artist Francisco Toledo to photograph the Zapotec community of Juchitán, Oaxaca. She began the series Juchitán de las Mujeres (Juchitán of the Women) around the Zapotec matriarchal community. Iturbide worked on this series for almost 10 years, ending in 1988. During this extended stay with the Juchitán people, she became deeply embedded in the community, sharing in their rituals and daily tasks. In 1989, she published her collection of photographs in the book Juchitán de las Mujeres, a visual documentation of the “strong, liberated, and marvelous” women of the community, with whom she shared much time. Her photographs capture the society through the culture’s women and muxes, a third gender identity in Zapotec culture.