The photographs in this book were taken in the early 1970s during visits to the cities and villages of the mountainous dry highlands, and humid tropical lowlands of Mexico. They show life before the rapid social and economic changes of the final two decades of the 20th century.
The color and black-and-white photos are grouped into separate sections, even though there is some overlap in subject matter. Both sections begin with rural farming, fishing, and village life. Next, in contrast to that way of life, are the middle class on Sunday outings, the urban professionals such as a Puebla doctor and his family, a Puebla supermarket, and my teachers who were university-trained archaeologists. Then come the young women of important Puebla families, dressed in traditional sombreros and flowing yellow dresses, who showed their astonishing synchronized horse riding skill--sidesaddle. I am still amazed at how they stayed on their horses when coming to a sudden stop from a gallop. Not to be left out are the one percent who own large farms, ex-haciendas, cattle and bull raising ranches, and live a life with an international flavor, yet remain very Mexican.