No Mames is the new photo book portraying the everyday life and fantasy world of Mexico City’s LGBTQ+ community
Bolstered by a rich history of activism and advocacy, Mexico City is home to a thriving queer scene. Despite the machismo, conservative values of a traditional Latin American country, the capital offers a relatively tolerant environment for the queer community in their plight for visibility and equality.
Despite being based in New York, Israeli-Moroccan photographer Mayan Toledano feels most at home in the city. “I perceived a special type of warmth and connection between people in Mexico City that I was naturally drawn to,” Toledano tells Dazed. “I made strong friendships, I fell in love, I wanted to stay.”
In her new photobook, No Mames (published by Damiani), Toledano depicts her enchantment with the city through a series of portraits of its queer community – many of whom are couples, roommates, or childhood friends. Following a thread of second and third-degree connections, the photographer underlines the value of a chosen family. She reflects, “One image led me to the next, one interaction to the other. These photographs tell a story of a tight-knit community that moves with creative force and support.”
Although she shares her love of the city with photographers such as Andrés Mañon and Alejandro Cabezut, Toledano’s portrait of its queer scene feels more stripped back, forgoing any affectations or theatricality. Instead, she portrays intervals of reflection. In a soft-hued mist, we’re drawn into the interior worlds of her subjects gazing upon intimate scenes of bodies entangled in embraces and friends taking selfies while getting ready to go out. “I am lucky to be invited into people’s lives with my camera and I take the time to get to know them and learn from them deeply,” says Toledano. “In many cases I went back and shot with people over a five-year period, witnessing their growth which naturally helped build intimacy. This connection becomes visible in the photos.”
In No Mames, Toledano employs a two-fold process: first, she captures her subjects as they present themselves in everyday life; then, she photographs them as they would like to appear. This parallel portraiture facilitates the conception of a fantasy self, somewhere beyond the binary. “Some of the people I photographed are drag performers, musicians, DJs, artists, or designers. All of them already have an abundant world of imagination and I wanted to play with that,” the photographer says. “It’s incredible to see someone bloom into what feels to them like a more authentic version of who they are.”
The act of wish-fulfilment perpetuates the collaborative approach Toledano prides herself on and, at times, coincides with real-life transformations. She follows one of her subjects, Havi, over the course of her gender transition, during which she underwent breast augmentation surgery. It’s worth noting that, in spite of its capital’s advances in recognising and protecting the rights of its transgender citizens, Mexico remains one of the most dangerous places to exist as a trans woman, second only to Brazil. With empathy and respect, Toledano gives direction to her subject at a vulnerable moment of self-realisation and development. Her medium shot of Havi nude in a bath of warm water and milk conveys serenity and safety.
“[Our bedroom is] our first place of privacy and expression. I remember meticulously taping little objects, stickers, and drawings in my room and switching it up whenever I thought I had birthed a new personality” – Mayan Toledano
The majority of the images in Toledano’s series centre the bedroom as a stage for expression, taking advantage of natural light to frame subjects’ interiorities. “There's something really vulnerable about letting people into your space,” she says. “I think if you’re someone that felt ‘other’ in any way, you found comfort and escape in your bedroom. It’s our first place of privacy and expression. I remember meticulously taping little objects, stickers, and drawings in my room and switching it up whenever I thought I had birthed a new personality. When I shoot, I love observing this aspect of people’s lives, what it tells us about them, how they live, what they like to surround themselves with.”
What’s clear is that it’s Toledano’s curation of intimacy that allows her to seamlessly blend into the lives of the people she photographs, witnessing the joy and togetherness of her queer community as they exist in their own eyes. At the book’s end, in a scrapbook-style love letter, Toledano acknowledges the collaborative effort and vital support network that helped to deliver No Mames. “None of this would have been possible without the limitless love, generosity, and openness of the people in it. Thank you for being my teachers. Te amo demasiado, Mayan.
No Mames by Mayan Toledano is published by Damiani and will be available to buy from 17 October.
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