Juchitán

“In the case of Juchitan, I saw it as a question of interpreting the Zapotec's culture. For example, Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas ("Our Lady of the Iguanas") became a real icon over time. Today Chicanos put reproductions of that image on their altars. I took this photograph by chance at the market. A woman came along with iguanas on the ground, so she put them back on her head. only one of the twelve shots I took was good because it was the only one in which the iguanas raised their heads as if they were posing. I wasn't the only one to interpret this photograph, it was also interpreted by critics and Chicanos, as well as the actual inhabitants of Juchitan who made a poster out of it and called it La medusa juchiteca ("The Juchitec Medusa"). When the Juchitan House of Culture celebrated its ten-year anniversary, this poster, featuring a low-quality reproduction of the photograph, was displayed in every house in the village. I like this appropriation of my work. Maybe this is what I expect: for people to interpret what I have already interpreted. In Los Angeles, a Chicano painter made a mural of my photograph” - Graciela Iturbide