Monsters invade the plaza near a massive colonial-era church, dancing and writhing to the robust sounds of the small marching band they follow through the streets of Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico.  Costumed teenagers sing and dance on graves in the outskirts of town.  Small dirt roads near cemeteries small and large throughout the region teem with vendors, food stands and carnival rides, catering to the flocks of visitors spending the night with the graves of loved ones, who lie beneath the earth.  Tears are shed and laughs shared as the locally made mezcal blurs dusk into night during the three days of Día de los Muertos.  The traditions and beliefs serve to celebrate the lives of those departed in life and in death.  Alters adorned in colored sand, marigolds, and offerings sit atop graves as the living commune with the dead by their graveside into the early morning hours.

The atmosphere and energy in the air seem surreal through my foreign eyes, jaded by traditionally negative and fearful thoughts of death as loss and finality.  The idea of celebration in death a new yet strangely familiar notion, as though deep-rooted in my primal programming.  As I begin to spend less time making images and more time connecting with the families, this familiar notion becomes an intoxicating and strangely relieving belief (though perhaps not as intoxicating as the mezcal I’m offered again and again).  As another large family takes me in amongst their loved ones, the matriarch pours more of the potent clear liquid out of an old milk jug into small paper cups.  She raises a toast and suggests that I celebrate my own lost ones alongside their family.  I humbly accept, tip my cup, and take her advice to heart.  So here’s some images dedicated to my lost loved ones and yours in celebration of their lives.  Cheers.

Monsters invade the plaza near a massive colonial-era church, dancing and writhing to the robust sounds of the small marching band they follow through the streets of Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico.  Costumed teenagers sing and dance on graves in the outskirts of town.  Small dirt roads near cemeteries small and large throughout the region ...