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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