The Seri live in the Sonoran Desert of northwestern Mexico, along the Gulf of California near the U.S.–Mexico border. In 1979, with anthropologist Luis Barjau, Iturbide stayed with the Seri community for more than two months, recording their lives with her camera—particularly their forced adaptation to modern life, which began in the 1940s. Commissioned by the Mexican government, the Seri project was initially designed to document the once-nomadic indigenous population. Yet in her works Iturbide moves beyond documentation: embracing an empathetic approach to photography, she seeks to see and learn through her subjects’ eyes. The first of her many extended stays with indigenous communities, Iturbide’s experience with the Seri reveals her early desire to know her own country deeply, and to increase her awareness of Mexico’s diversity.