Monkeys, Dogs and Deer: Vintage Portraits of Frida Kahlo Posing With Her Beloved Pets at Home

Why was the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, obsessed with monkeys – not to mention parrots, pre-Hispanic dogs and deer? Eight of the large number of self-portraits she painted in her short life (55 out of 181 paintings) feature spider monkeys.

Born to an Oaxacan mother and a German father, she grew up in a free-spirited yet strongly political environment and began taking art lessons at a very young age. During her childhood, she had contracted polio which left one of her legs thinner than the other. Shortly after her recovery, she had been involved in a nearly fatal car accident which had a lasting impact on her overall health and wellbeing. Because of her poor physical condition, Kahlo was never able to mother her own children. Feeling lonely and depressed, Kahlo filled her home (known as ‘Casa Azul’ located in the Coyocán neighborhood of Mexico City) with a menagerie of animals that included spider monkeys, cats, birds, and indigenous hairless dogs called Xoloitzcuintli. Recognizing her pets as soulful and insightful creatures, she frequently portrayed them ― notably her monkeys Fulang Chang and Caimito de Guayabal, and her deer Granizo ― throughout her oeuvre. 

Infatuated with their Mesoamerican roots, both Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera collected important artifacts from these early civilizations. This had extended to Kahlo’s collection of pets, many of which were representative of Aztec and Mayan cultures. Monkeys, for example, were highly revered by the Aztecs as deities of fertility. In a way, it can be said that Kahlo’s fluid sexuality (Kahlo was known to be a philanderer, having had multiple affairs with both men and women) resonated with that of her pet monkeys due to their rambunctious and unapologetically sexual nature, which might also explain why she had depicted them as her equals. The extremely intelligent Xoloitzcuintli dogs she kept were also very important for the Aztecs, as they were representative of the underworld. If not eaten for special sacrificial ceremonies, the dogs were buried along with their owners to safeguard their souls after death.

These animals played both a significant role in her life as they did in a number of her works, helping her to effectively tell her stories.

See more»

Gay Men Pose for a Photo While Being Detained at a Police Station in Mexico City, 1935

A set of pictures of Mexicans, purportedly arrested for homosexuality in 1935. It belongs to the collection of the National Photo Library of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in Mexico.

Very little is known about the detainees themselves, except these pictures come from Lecumberri prison in Mexico City.

Up until 1976, gay men were imprisoned in the prison ward J, or Jota. Joto(s) is still a common homophobic slur in Mexico.

Luis Arturo Salmerón, in his article ‘Pride Behind Bars’, covered the photos: “The detainees smile, posed to scandalize the same people who took them prisoner; they look proud before the cameras of the society that represses them.

“Why do they do it? I want to believe – and the images seem to confirm it – that it is their way of resisting, of challenging the society that oppresses them and encloses them, but, as their faces shout at us from the distance of the years, they can not change them.

“They are shouting that there they are, that they can lock them up or kill them, but they will not leave, that they will fight so that society can finally be inclusive and that sexual diversity is not persecuted as a crime.

“We do not know their names, but we can remember their challenging faces as a brief tribute to the thousands of victims of a struggle that in Mexico has made some progress, although it still has a long way to go.”

Beautiful Vintage Black and White Photos of Mexico in 1952

Born in 1905 in Seattle and raised in San Francisco, Earl Leaf spent many years finding his calling.  By 1936 he was the North China manager of the United Press Associations covering the Sino-Japanese war. Before that he was a cowboy, sailor, prospector, dude rancher, actor, bookkeeper, Salvation Army cadet, and many more. After the war Earl decided that he would be both a photographer and a journalist and spent time in New York shooting the city and taking assignments to shoot artists like Martha.

By 1949 Earl had picked up and moved back to the West Coast arriving in Hollywood in the summer of that year. By the Fall he had his first Hollywood celebrity session shooting the actress Cleo Moore at home. Press agents took notice and soon he was shooting up-and-coming stars. By the early 1950s Earl was well established on the scene shooting both candid sessions (never in a studio) and out on the town hobnobbing with the cream of Hollywood like Bogart and Bacall, Brando, etc. He was welcome everywhere from the Oscars to Ciro’s the Mocambo and the Cocoanut Grove.

He slowed down in the ’70s and by 1980 at the age of 75 he was dead. The complete overview of the essay about his life and career from Jonathan H, a Getty Image archive editor who used to work with Earl, can be found here.

Below are 25 photographs depicted local life in Mexico taken by Earl during his trip to the country in 1952:

Local women wear native dresses in Tehuantepec.

Couples dance in traditional dress in Tehuantepec.

Local women carries items on her head from the local market in Tehuantepec.

A rancher rides his horse on a ranch in Michoacan.

Little boys sit on the fence at a ranch in Michoacan.

See more»

Haunting Photos From Abandoned Island of the Dolls in Mexico City

Dolls can be creepy for a number of reasons, the lifeless eyes, the knowing smile, or the outstretched limbs that seem to be calling out to you. But nothing is creepier than the Island of the Dolls (La Isla de las Munecas), located in the channels of Xochimilco, 17 miles south of Mexico City, Mexico.

The Island of the Dolls, originally owned by Don Julian Santana Barrera, is full of dolls hanging from trees and buildings covered with cobwebs and insects. The place was named during the 1950s when the owner began to hang them as protection against evil spirits.

According to legend, a young girl drowned entangled among the lilies of the canal and her body was found on the banks of the Santampa chinampas. Don Julian began to experience inexplicable situations so, terrified, placed dolls that he found in the garbage or in the canals of Cuemanco with the idea that they would scare the soul of the young girl who would cry out “I want my doll.” He also found a doll floating nearby and, assuming it belonged to the deceased girl, hung it from a tree as a sign of respect.

Many stories have been associated with the island over the years. A popular tale was that Don Julian had gone mad and believed the dolls to be real children who he pulled from the canal and tried to revive. But the truth, as told by his family members, is that Don Julian simply believed the island was haunted by the spirit of the little girl. For reasons only known to Don Julian himself, he believed that he could make the dead girl happy and keep evil at bay by hanging discarded dolls in all of the island’s trees.

The story took a particularly sinister turn in 2001 when Don Julian drowned in the canal just like the little girl. Many people said that the dolls, inhabited by tortured spirits, conspired to murder the old man. Others believe that Don Julian’s death was an accident and that since his passing, the dolls have taken over his role as the island’s caretaker.

Although the island did not receive much tourist attention during Don Julian’s lifetime, it has become a well-known attraction since then. International television crews have filmed there several times, including one show that claimed to find proof the island is haunted.

Getting to the island is a long and difficult task, but walking among the creepy dolls is an experience like no other. Most, if not all, of these dolls were rejected by their previous owners for various reasons. Severed limbs and body-less heads hang side-by-side with whole, sun-bleached dolls. Mold covers some, while others are missing nearly all of their artificial hair. Spiders and insects have taken up residence in the hollow parts of most of the dolls.

Although Don Julian’s sentiment was innocent and admirable, the doll graveyard he created is undeniably creepy. Soulless eyes follow visitors as they move around the small island (which is actually a chinampa, or artificial floating garden), and many swear that they can hear the dolls whispering to them. This labor of love (or fear, as it were) has resulted in an accidental sensation amongst those who admire the bizarre and twisted side of tourism.

See more»

Vibrant Vintage Photos of Mexico in 1968

In advance of the Summer Olympic Games which would take place in Mexico City, making it the first Games to be staged in Latin America and hosted by a developing country, LIFE photographer John Dominis came and offered an intimate look at the people, their life and their rich culture. Take a look at the country through 18 vibrant photographs taken by Dominis during his stay below:

Men wearing masks performing.

School children playing on Olympic logo Mexico 68.

16-year-old Olympic Stadium being refurbished including a colored apron which directs crowds to the entrances.

A child carrying bouquet on her way to the fiesta.

Park dancers in flurry of action.

See more»

Beautiful Black and White Portraits of Frida Kahlo Taken by Sylvia Salmi in 1944

Sylvia Ester Salmi (1909-1977) was a prominent and highly respected American photographer. During the 1930s and 1940s, she took portraits of numerous great artists and intellectuals of the time, including Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and, in Mexico, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and Leon Trotsky.

In 1964, following the death of her second husband, Salmi embarked on an eight-year tour of the world before settling in Ajijic in about 1972. Sylvia Salmi passed away in January 1977 at the age of 67.

Below are some iconic photographs of Frida Kahlo taken by Sylvia Salmi in Mexico, 1944.

See more»

Five Shots of a Woman Braving the Streets of Mexico City, circa 1950

A women being watched and harassed in Mexico City, Mexico in 1950. There are 5 pictures of her being watched by men everywhere she went.

(Note: She has been identified as Mexican movie and television actress Maty Huitrón.)

(Photos by Nacho López)

Everyday Life of Mexico City in 1957 Through Amazing Color Photos

Here is a color photo collection from jamesandtim that shows everyday life of Mexico City, mostly portraits of Mexicans in 1957.

See more»

30 Amazing Photographs That Document Everyday Life in Mexico From the Early 20th Century

Agustín Víctor Casasola (1874-1928), others cite: (1874-1938) was a Mexican photographer and partial founder of the Mexican Association of Press Photographers.

Casasola began his career as a typographer for the newspaper El Imparcial, eventually moving to reporter then on to photographer in the early 1900s. He became a photographer in 1894. By 1911 Casasola was credited with founding the first Mexican press agency, Agencia Fotografica Mexicana. Casasola was later thanked by the interim president in 1911, Francisco León de la Barra, for having "inaugurated a new phase of freedom in the press photography." By the end of 1912 the agency had expanded and changed its name to Agencia Mexicana de Informacion Fotografica. The agency brought on more photographers and began purchasing pictures from foreign agencies and amateurs, then redistributing those photographs to newspapers.

When El Imparcial went out of business in 1917, Casasola recovered the newspaper's archives, eventually compiling many of the photographs into the famed "Album histórico gráfico" which covered the events of the Mexican Revolution. Casasola only managed to print the first 6 volumes covering the years 1910 to 1912. It is believed the work did not fare well due to the changing attitude of people wanting to move on from the death and suffering that plagued the civil war.

In 1920, Casasola as well as other notable Mexican photographers founded the Mexican Association of Press photographers.

Casasola's collection was later dubbed the Casasola Archive where it was later housed at the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the collection totaling over 500,000 prints and negatives.

See more»

Rare and Precious Footage of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera at Their Blue House in Mexico City

The longtime love affair between artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera was the definition of torrid, yet there were also moments of tenderness and a deep well of emotion that kept them together. The video shows the two iconic artists kissing and embracing each other at their Blue House in Mexico City.

“Nobody will ever know how much I love Diego,” Kahlo wrote about her love for Rivera in her diary. “I don’t want anything to hurt him, nothing to bother him and rob him of the energy he needs for living — for living as he likes, for painting, seeing, loving, eating, sleeping, being by himself, being with someone. But I’d never want him to be sad. If I had good health, I’d give him all of it. If I had youth, he could take it all.”

According to Messy Nessy Chic, the footage was shot by Frida’s friend, confidante and lover, Hungarian photographer Nickolas Muray, one of the most highly acclaimed photographers of his day and a pioneer of color photography. Kahlo’s on-again off-again relationship with Muray lasted ten years and he was considered one of the most significant men in her life aside from Diego.

It’s unknown whether they were carrying on their affair when this footage was shot, but no doubt one of Diego’s extra curricular fancies wouldn’t have been too far away either.

22 Vintage Photos Show Everyday Life of Mexico City in the early 20th Century

These are 22 vintage photos that define everyday life of Mexico City in the 1900s.

A temporary shelter, 1908

An officer of the Mexican Rurales, 1904

Banana tree in Alameda, City of Mexico, 1904

Booths in Calle Cinco de Mayo, Mexico City, 1904

Bull fight, City of Mexico, 1904

See more»