This piece is published in collaboration with Coda Story as part of the Complicating Colonialism issue.
“The New Aztecs” is a series of portraits documenting a revival of ancient Aztec culture in present-day downtown Mexico City. Men and women don headdresses that are as tall as they are; lavish, colorful costumes; skeleton masks and feathers. They perform ritual dances and take part in shamanic healing ceremonies for tourists and believers alike. It’s pertinent that these rituals are happening at Zócalo, the main square in central Mexico City that was, before the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the main ceremonial center of the Aztec city-state known as Tenochtitlan. The photographer Kike Arnal has long documented the lives of people and cultures across the globe.
Contributor
Kike Arnal is a Venezuelan American documentary photographer. His work has been published by The New York Times and Mother Jones among others. Arnal is the author of four photography books: In the Shadow of Power, Bordered Lives, Revealing Selves and Voladores.