All photos and drawings from the archive of Stefan Ruiz, photographer and illustrato unknown
Stefan Ruiz first discovered photography in the early 1990s. He was working as an art teacher at San Quentin State Prison, California, and started taking pictures of the inmates who came to his classes. Crime had always fascinated him. The son of a Mexican lawyer, he grew up with dinner table stories of trials and arrests. But it was the characters behind it all that really grabbed him; his work as a portrait photographer has taken him around the world, shooting everyone from patients in Cuban psychiatric hospitals to Mexican "Cholombiano" street kids, and big names like Bill Clinton and James Brown.
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But for his latest project, he's put his own lens down to bring to light a haul of lost photographs from Mexico City's scattered police archives. It started in 2010, when he came across a box of dusty mugshots in a flea market in Las Lagunillas. The owner, he discovered, had a whole load of police images taken throughout the 1950s to 1970s—from stills of armed robbery and artists' impressions of stolen possessions to portraits of the most notorious criminals of the age. Brown and frayed, the photographs were an alternative insight into life and crime in mid-century Mexico. So, Stefan set about making them into a book.
The book's mugshots are mainly of thieves, who were idolized by the country's poor. It also features mugshots of famous murderers such as student-turned-serial-killer Gregorio Cárdenas Hérnandez, brothel-owners and mass-murderers Delfina and María González, as well as scrapbooks of political radicals who were labeled as terrorists like 1960s teacher and civic leader Genaro Vazquez.While the 20th century guerrillas and highway bandits may have been largely replaced by drug cartels and organized gangs, the entrenched and violent criminal culture that Mexico is so often associated with by outsiders is still very much present—figures show that over 7,400 intentional homicides took place nationwide between January and May, while some analysts have estimated that 80,000 organized crime-related killings have taken place in Mexico between 2006 and 2015.
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We caught up with Stefan to discuss the motivation behind his book and what he thinks these images tell us about Mexico today.
VICE: Tell us how you found all these pictures.
Stefan: I go to flea markets a lot and I often buy photographs. I used to teach in a prison and I've always been a bit obsessed with crime photos. I like mugshots because I take portraits and in mugshots the portraits are pretty good—by the time the picture is taken, the person is obviously screwed. But the thing that I found interesting about these photographs was that they weren't just mugshots, they were so random. There were so many of them, too. I asked the guy at the stall if he had any more. The next time we met, he showed up with two black plastic bags full of them.
Stefan: I go to flea markets a lot and I often buy photographs. I used to teach in a prison and I've always been a bit obsessed with crime photos. I like mugshots because I take portraits and in mugshots the portraits are pretty good—by the time the picture is taken, the person is obviously screwed. But the thing that I found interesting about these photographs was that they weren't just mugshots, they were so random. There were so many of them, too. I asked the guy at the stall if he had any more. The next time we met, he showed up with two black plastic bags full of them.
Why did you decide to publish these photographs now?
I showed the photos to a friend who works in publishing. You know, there's always crime in Mexico so it seemed relevant. Also, I wanted the photos to get out there because I thought they were good enough to share and bring up different ideas. We found this professor, Benjamin Smith, who teaches Latin American History so together we looked at different photos, trying to find connections with the photographs I had. I had already found some; I knew that one of the guys who is labeled as a terrorist in the country was teaching at the University of Mexico and was an expert in Mexico's leftist movement. And then we found some of the other people, like the American guy Joel Kaplan who escaped from prison in Mexico with a helicopter, and all of that was great because it just added a whole other level to the project. Also, the photographs talk of how crime in Mexico has changed over the years so we thought it was important to publish.
I showed the photos to a friend who works in publishing. You know, there's always crime in Mexico so it seemed relevant. Also, I wanted the photos to get out there because I thought they were good enough to share and bring up different ideas. We found this professor, Benjamin Smith, who teaches Latin American History so together we looked at different photos, trying to find connections with the photographs I had. I had already found some; I knew that one of the guys who is labeled as a terrorist in the country was teaching at the University of Mexico and was an expert in Mexico's leftist movement. And then we found some of the other people, like the American guy Joel Kaplan who escaped from prison in Mexico with a helicopter, and all of that was great because it just added a whole other level to the project. Also, the photographs talk of how crime in Mexico has changed over the years so we thought it was important to publish.
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What do you think these photographs say about contemporary Mexico?
I guess what I wanted to do was to tie into the idea that everything is different but the same; things have changed but they haven't really. I mean, now in Mexico you have Narcoterrorism, which is different from the leftist terrorism of the 60s and what's going on with ISIS, but the problem is still incredibly real. Probably the difference with Mexico today is that at the time some of the crimes were maybe a bit more innocent. In the 1950s the most popular form of crime in Mexico was robbery, which is why most of the mugshots I have are of thieves. But right now with all these beheadings and bodies hanging off the bridges it's really gone to a whole other level.Last year 43 student teachers went missing and nothing happened. The government keeps saying everything's fine and things are getting better but the druglords like Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán seem to be more powerful than the government sometimes.
I guess what I wanted to do was to tie into the idea that everything is different but the same; things have changed but they haven't really. I mean, now in Mexico you have Narcoterrorism, which is different from the leftist terrorism of the 60s and what's going on with ISIS, but the problem is still incredibly real. Probably the difference with Mexico today is that at the time some of the crimes were maybe a bit more innocent. In the 1950s the most popular form of crime in Mexico was robbery, which is why most of the mugshots I have are of thieves. But right now with all these beheadings and bodies hanging off the bridges it's really gone to a whole other level.Last year 43 student teachers went missing and nothing happened. The government keeps saying everything's fine and things are getting better but the druglords like Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán seem to be more powerful than the government sometimes.
Your family are Mexican migrants, and you go back there pretty regularly. Are we getting a true picture about what it's really like in Mexico from the mainstream media?
There has definitely been a clampdown on the media; it's pretty common knowledge that the government right now has been a little less friendly toward any critical media and the PRI has always been close to some of the established media. But then also the cartels have been much harsher, they've been killing journalists in Mexico like crazy.
There has definitely been a clampdown on the media; it's pretty common knowledge that the government right now has been a little less friendly toward any critical media and the PRI has always been close to some of the established media. But then also the cartels have been much harsher, they've been killing journalists in Mexico like crazy.
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What's it like as a photographer there?
When I was shooting the Cholombiano series in Monterrey, it was pretty hectic. There was a lot of violence in the neighborhood and it was very sketchy. Nobody goes there unless they're part of the military. There were a few times when I could feel the energy going bad, which is when you just pack your equipment up as quickly and calmly as possible, put it in the car and go.I remember shooting there and people coming up to me saying, "Do you realize how crazy it is here?" I mean, you have police driving around in pickups with masks on, they're not showing their faces. I've been pulled over by the police a few times over the years, trying to get bribes. Especially if you rent a car, the police will know and pull you over and hold you up for a while and fish for money. I have Mexican friends who if they get pulled over by the cops and asked for their driving license, they keep the windows up and show it through the glass. Because if you hand it to them, they'll say, "If you want it back you'll need to come to the police station and pay a big fine. Or you can pay me $20 and we'll just settle the ticket here."
When I was shooting the Cholombiano series in Monterrey, it was pretty hectic. There was a lot of violence in the neighborhood and it was very sketchy. Nobody goes there unless they're part of the military. There were a few times when I could feel the energy going bad, which is when you just pack your equipment up as quickly and calmly as possible, put it in the car and go.I remember shooting there and people coming up to me saying, "Do you realize how crazy it is here?" I mean, you have police driving around in pickups with masks on, they're not showing their faces. I've been pulled over by the police a few times over the years, trying to get bribes. Especially if you rent a car, the police will know and pull you over and hold you up for a while and fish for money. I have Mexican friends who if they get pulled over by the cops and asked for their driving license, they keep the windows up and show it through the glass. Because if you hand it to them, they'll say, "If you want it back you'll need to come to the police station and pay a big fine. Or you can pay me $20 and we'll just settle the ticket here."
So what do you want your work to achieve?
I'm trying to do things that are at least a little bit informed and respectful. I try to deal with Mexico in a slightly nuanced way and I like the idea of commenting a little bit on the political situation without taking it overboard.Follow Giulia Mutti on Twitter.[ ](https://twitter.com/giuliamutti)
Mexican Crime Photographs from the archive of Stefan Ruiz is out now, published by GOST Books.
I'm trying to do things that are at least a little bit informed and respectful. I try to deal with Mexico in a slightly nuanced way and I like the idea of commenting a little bit on the political situation without taking it overboard.Follow Giulia Mutti on Twitter.[ ](https://twitter.com/giuliamutti)
Mexican Crime Photographs from the archive of Stefan Ruiz is out now, published by GOST Books.