Photographs by Maya Goded A young artist in search of answers to the secrets and meanings enclosed within women`s bodies--issues of inequality, transgression, religion, virginity, maternity, age, and desire--sets out alone to find the truth. Her wanderings take her into the heart of downtown Mexico City, the dark alleyways behind the National Palace, in a quarter called La Merced. Life in the tenements (vecindades) and hotels, trade, the close contact with thieves and homeless children, drug-trafficking, apart from the religious devotion manifest in its temples and churches, define the character of this neighborhood that, for more than four centuries, has been a privileged space for prostitution. That was the door which allowed her to see how it was like--the world that authorities and society in general prefer not to mention, or which they classify as an underworld of violence and "lost" women, the bad ones, society`s dark side; that world we all are a part of, whether we want to--whether we care--or not. We see the face of the Magdalen in these fleshy, soulful, life-filled, lusty pictures and in the fascinating interviews that accompany them. About the Author: MAYA GODED was Born in Mexico City, Maya Goded has had her work exhibited in numerous venues including the Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey Museum in Mexico; the European Festival for the Arts, Brussels; Rotterdam Museum of Art; The Women’s Museum of Denmark; Foto Fest, Houston, Texas; and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain. $35 USD 11" x 11" / 128 pages 66 B&W December 2006 ISBN: 978-1-8841676-21 Website price: $17.50

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