Woman carrying a child. Cuetzalan, Puebla. Mexico.

Vintage gelatin silver photograph with white margin, larger on the right side. Measures. Photography: 24.9 x 13.6 cm / 9.8 x 5.35 in. Paper: 25.33 x 17.2 cm / 9.97 x 6.77 in. On the back, the photographer's wet stamp. Copy in good condition.

In the scene, the mother carries her baby with a huacal -supported with a woven mecapal that passes over her head-, a structure of a particular shape only made in this community in the Sierra Norte de Puebla. She wears a white fabric in the shape of a tangle, held up by a sash woven on a waist loom. She wears a European-shaped blouse, embroidered with animal and flower designs. On her shoulders you can see the triangle of a quechquémitl, a garment of two rectangular canvases woven on a backstrap loom. Inside the basket there is a backstrap loom shawl. (1)

Ruth D. Lechuga, a member of the Deutsch Reiss family (Vienna, 1920 - Mexico, 2004) arrived in exile in Mexico in 1939, after escaping from captivity after the tragic Night of the Broken Glass. She studied medicine at UNAM. For years she accompanied her father in archaeological investigations and fascinated by the handicrafts of Mexico in the various manifestations of her she devoted herself to photographing, studying and collecting them. In 1950 she married the medical ethnologist Carlos Lechuga.

In those initial excursions, she was captivated by the traditional fabrics and also by the masks used by those communities in the various festivals. In 1956 she was part of the photographic group La Ventana, with annual exhibitions until 1961. Her first individual exhibition was held in 1964 in Mexico.

Her photographic archive is safeguarded today by the Ajaraca-Artes de México Foundation, based in Mexico City, which received it in custody by decision of the photographer.

Note:

1. Information provided by the Mexican specialist Marta Turok.

We also appreciate the correction and enrichment of the text by Dr. Laura González Flores (Mexico), specialist in photography.