In 1979 Graciela Iturbide began a series that would bring her international acclaim, Women of Juchitan. In the process of producing the series, Iturbide lived with the community for several years. This photograph, one of the artist’s most renowned works, portrays Sobeida Díaz, a Mesoamerican medusa of sorts that goes to the market every day to sell her iguanas. The market is managed by women; the men are denied entry.

The project arose on Francisco Toledo’s invitation to produce an exhibition at the Casa de la Cultura in Juchitán, a population located on the isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Oaxaca, the center of Zapotec culture and a symbol of the struggles of Indigenous communities.