Pictures Perfect

Every morning throughout Mexico, in small sleepy towns and in big bustling cities, local photographers set up their cameras and wait for customers to appear. Called fotografos ambulantes, they are street photographers who operate without formal studios.

In the past, they went where demand dictated, providing photos for official documents and important events to people who had no cameras. Now they station themselves in the central plazas of small towns or at strategic points of public activity throughout Mexico City.

Los ambulantes still provide an essential service to local populations, but their numbers are declining as Mexican society changes and more people buy cameras. In Mexico City, however, the photographers have learned how to adapt in order to survive. They still do a brisk business and provide an important social service.

In fact, in virtually every country outside the United States and Europe, there is some form of indigenous street photography. Street photographers record the major events of family life among the poor: the births, weddings, festivals and holidays. They have been the true chroniclers of their people, yet few of their photographs have been collected and preserved.

I returned to Mexico City last December, after a 15-year absence, to visit with los ambulantes and check up on how they are doing.

Street photography in Mexico City is run by a union founded in 1910 and now officially called the Union de Fotografos de Cinco Minutos e Instantaneas (Union of the Five-Minute and Instant Photo Photographers). The name offers a clue to its history and evolution.

In the old days, the photographers used wooden box cameras that contained developing trays in the back, where paper negatives were developed. Then with a special close-up attachment, they photographed the paper negative to produce the final print. The whole process took five minutes, hence the original name of the union. The small black and white photographs were generally grainy, soft and of poor quality. In small town plazas one can still find los ambulantes using the old equipment, and there is a certain romanticism attached to the continuation of this tradition.

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But to survive in Mexico City, the photographers have upgraded their equipment and created more engaging methods for attracting customers. I am a photographer, too, and it is these street photographers I more readily relate to and wanted to visit. They do not normally interact with tourists, since more than 80% of their business is local. But the photographers were receptive to a foreigner--especially a fellow professional--who showed genuine interest in their work. My Spanish is halting, but we developed a common language. I was able to ask a lot of questions about photographers I had met previously and the current state of affairs.

The union now has 225 members (down from 400 in 1981) and controls all aspects of street photography in Mexico City. It negotiates permits from municipal authorities, assigns photographers to specific locations and regulates the number at each site. The photographers rotate in shifts but do not move from site to site.

Prices at each site are fixed and uniform. Unlike much of the sidewalk retailing in Mexico, there is no haggling over price and no price competition. No photographer is allowed to overcharge or undersell. This tends to upgrade the professional image of the street photographers and helps create a sense of confidence that customers will get value for their money. All members pay monthly dues and buy their film from the union (which negotiates bulk rates from manufacturers).

It was the union leadership that was instrumental several years ago in encouraging members to switch to Polaroid cameras (the Instantaneas, in the union name), and it provided training in the use of the cameras and in photographic techniques. Photographers remain at their designated site for years and have the right to pass that position on to their sons or other family members. I found several members whom I had met 15 years ago still on the job and met the sons of others who had died.

Unlike U.S. photographers, los ambulantes do not try for spontaneous or candid shots. They know their customers and what they want. There is no cultural gap. They also know their business. They work fast and efficiently and produce uniform results. In fact, I never saw them take a photo that didn’t come out--a far better record than most of us can claim.

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I timed my visit to coincide with the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe so the day after I arrived, I took a 20-minute bus ride from my hotel in the center of town, north along the Paseo de la Reforma to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe(also called La Villa de Guadalupe) to watch the photographers prepare. La Villa is a mecca, which the devout visit to pay respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. La Villa is where the union has the most photographers--104 working in various shifts--and the feast day is the busiest time of the year for them. Well over a million pilgrims from all over Mexico arrive in endless streams to worship, sometimes covering the last part of the journey on their knees in a display of extreme adoration. For many, an integral part of their visit is having their photograph taken.

What I found on feast day, Dec. 12, was beyond my wildest imagination. The vast plaza in front of the new basilica (which can accommodate 10,000) was filled with groups of dancers and drummers: perhaps 20 or 30 groups at a time in elaborate Aztec and Spanish costumes with headdresses, plumes, capes and swords. It was difficult to work my way through the crowds to where the photographers had set up their backdrops and props, and I found it difficult to concentrate with all the distraction. But the photographers and their assistants were totally focused on their job: soliciting, posing, photographing, delivering the framed photograph and collecting their money, all with remarkable efficiency and courtesy.

The grounds surrounding La Villa are large, and groups of photographers are stationed throughout the complex. When people come to worship, they leave with a photograph, a tangible souvenir of what may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them. The price throughout La Villa was about $3 for a 3-by-4-inch color photograph in a brightly colored plastic or cardboard frame.

The street photographers do not hawk their wares or pressure the pilgrims, but they do make themselves visible and cover every pathway in and out of La Villa. At some locations within the Villa de Guadalupe compound, photographers use the old church or other natural scenes as a backdrop. Elsewhere, they have constructed elaborate and colorful backdrops, all of which prominently feature representations of the Virgin. Some are brightly painted, three-dimensional screens containing statues, artificial flowers and photographs of Pope John Paul II. As was popular in Victorian portraits, holes are cut in the backdrops so small babies can be held from behind by someone out of sight while they have their picture taken, in this case with the Virgin or the pope.

I also took time to visit other major Mexico City sites where the street photographers work: Xochimilco, Plaza Garibaldi and Chapultepec Park.

Xochimilco offers an experience totally different from the religiosity of La Villa. Xochimilco is a place for raucous enjoyment and self indulgence. It reflects the secular side of the Mexican spirit, and the pervasive theme is having a good time. It is the poor man’s Venice--a combination floating market and nightclub--and attracts tourists and Mexican families out for fun and relaxation.

The photographers ply the waters of Xochimilco selling their services. Assistants pole narrow canoes on which the photographers have balanced their symbol, the old box camera on its tripod.

On crowded days, hawking is necessary in the swirl of activity, and photographers call out to the passing boats soliciting customers. Xochimilco photographers use the boats as backdrops and usually offer sombreros and serapes as props. When taking a picture, the photographer ties his boat to the larger one and passes the necessary props back and forth. Plaza Garibaldi, just west of the city center, is where the mariachi bands congregate. Nighttime is the best time to go. On the evenings I was there, about 20 different groups were waiting to play tunes for tips. There is nothing solemn about the atmosphere at Garibaldi; in fact, it has a reputation for hard-edged drunkenness. So it’s best to go with a guide.

There are only a handful of photographers working at Garibaldi at any one time, but I did speak to some on successive nights. Business was slow and has been declining because tourists coming to Garibaldi, whether Mexican or American, tend to bring their own cameras. On Sundays, Chapultepec Park also attracts families looking for fun. And the photographers are there to provide a souvenir of the experience. Chapultepec contains a zoo, art museums, gardens and a lake for boating and is a favorite place to stroll. Several photographers have set up their stands as well, mostly featuring horses or animals from the zoo or views of the lake. Families with children are the major customers, and the purpose of the photograph is to remember an enjoyable outing. Visitors to Mexico City easily can find the street photographers in the places mentioned above. They may not approach foreigners, but they will be happy to accommodate anyone who asks. If one looks carefully, the experience also will provide a glimpse into local culture that one can get only from being in front of the camera, not behind it.