The result of nine trips over a period of three years, Return to Mexico is a memorable document of a passionate adventure which reveals the contrast between an ancient country and the objects and things that proclaim the modernity of those who possess them. In Mexico – a country that was brutally conquered and then learned to mask its own culture – Abbas traveled, photographing the country as if writing a novel, and keeping a journal as if taking snapshots.
Through both his photographs and excerpts from his personal daily journal, Abbas poignantly conveys the effect of Mexico’s transition into a modern state, and also suggests the causes in their historical perspective. The images were published in a book with an eloquent introduction by Carlos Fuentes, which provides great insight into the understanding and appreciation of Abbas’s photographs.
