Flor Garduño: Women of Tehuantepec

One of Flor Garduño’s best-known photographs, ‘Ocotal II, México’ was taken in 1986, while Garduño visited the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca.

The image depicts a group of young Tehuanas women in wedding dresses, gathered together against a stormy, rural landscape. One of the girls runs separately from the rest, her veil and skirt blowing in the wind. In one sense drawing on tradition, the image simultaneously evokes a feeling of liberation amongst a tight community of young women.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is rooted in a matriarchal society. The district is home to Tehuanas, a community of women who descended from the Zapotecs and are important figures in Mexican culture. The Tehuanas are known for their confidence, hard work, power, and traditional dress. Following the Mexican Revolution, a new visual culture emerged along with a new national identity. Women began to challenge the norm by dressing up and calling themselves Las Pelonas (baldies) or La Chica Moderna (modern women), wearing their hair bobbed, raised skirts, and exposed arms and legs.

‘Ocotal II’ is a dream-like photograph, that even within the matriarchal region of Tehuantepec, captures a shifting culture amongst young women within the traditional landscape of México.