It has been 20 years since my first trip to Mexico.

This time I returned on the occasion of the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)..

I was thrilled as I have been looking forward to this  experience for years.

I was very lucky as I went during a  a workshop organized by Alex Coghe and his wife Carmen. Carmen is Mexican and they have been living there for many years.

It was a great experience, real, off the usual tourist beaten paths  and enriched thanks to Alex who knew the local people.

The Día de los Muertos is so important for Mexicans that it has been nominated a World Heritage Event since 2008. The celebration is so ancient that it dates back to the pre-Columbian period, pre-colonial (colonialism, not “discovery”) of America by the Europeans.

If today the date of the deads in Mexico coincides with the Catholic one, it is because the Europeans imposed it on the natives.

The photos below were taken during the Dia de los Muertos. I am hoping one day to work on a book to describe the concept of deathin various culture and these photos would defenitly be part of that!