Chalma

Iturbide’s cinematic, black-and-white photographs of Mexico focus on rural landscapes, Indigenous practices and people, festivals, rituals, and gender. This work demonstrates her interest in Catholicism’s role in Mexican culture. It is named for the small town Chalma, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Mexico. It depicts a backdrop with an empty mandorla, possibly intended for pilgrims to pose in front of for souvenir photos. Iturbide visited the town in the 1980s, photographing processions and exuberant celebrations of the dead. By contrast, this desolate scene comes from a return visit decades later.