‘Muxes’ as a concept originated in Zapotec – a language spoken in areas of Mexico. It refers to people who are considered to be a third gender. They are neither homosexuals, nor women. Mexican photographer, Nelson Morales, who identifies as a muxe, was able to photograph the muxes from within. But he did not limit himself to the muxes; he also photographed the ‘Transamazonicas' in Colombia, as he called them. For Morales, photography is an artistic as well as a political act. However, first and foremost, his work is an act of liberation.

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In one photograph, we see a woman dressed in a wide, red dress, talking to a truck driver. In another, we see a veiled woman in white clothing, with a rosary in her hands, and in yet another image, a woman dressed as a mermaid lies on the beach. All of these photos depict the Muxes of Oaxaca, a region in Mexico.
Nelson Morales states: “The Muxes of Oaxaca are considered the third gender of Mexico. They do not define themselves as homosexuals; they have surpassed this idea. They are rather seen as a mixture of both genders, and are in a constant search for beauty.”  

Whereas many homosexuals are not accepted by Mexican society, the majority of muxes are accepted by their families. Morales defines himself as a muxe. "I never wanted to be like a woman, and finally, I accepted my body as such. Here in our region, there are many muxes. You see them on the street, in the markets, at parties – everywhere. It is good that they can be free and express themselves. However, it is not paradise, as some media suggests. We must remember that Mexico has a deep-rooted macho culture."
Each photo in the Muxe series seems to tell a different story; the result of intense collaboration between the photographer and the model.

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We must remember that Mexico has a deep-rooted macho culture

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Transamazonicas‍

Another closely-related series is Transamazonicas, which is about transsexuals living in the Amazon jungle in Colombia. Morales walked for two days through the Amazonian town of Puerto Nariño, but he was disappointed not to see any transgender girls. One of the reasons for their absence is that transsexuality is a taboo topic in the area. Finally, however, he found a lipstick in the street, which led him to the local gay hairdresser.

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When Nelson finally met the transgender people, he joined their group and showed them his project about the muxes in Mexico, after which they decided to participate. "We went to the jungle, to the rivers and to their houses, which was an inspiring experience. One of them told me that she felt like the Amazon's next top model. The transamazonicas are an emerging community, and they are struggling to express themselves and not be repressed. For them, it has been tough; some of them even have to leave their communities."
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Mexican Men‍

In his project, The Mexican, Morales explored the various archetypes of the Mexican man by making self-portraits. He started with his muxe origins, and explored the different aesthetic codes for masculinity in Mexico City, where he lives.
"I perform and play with my sexual duality, and recreate man in metaphors that enrich my personal imaginary. As I liked the idea of taking self-portraits, I decided to continue doing them. I did this series to understand how I felt being Muxe, indigenous and dark-skinned."
Morales used the discrimination he has often been faced with as the impetus to show more of himself. "I showed all the stereotypes of the extremely macho Mexican man that came to my mind. I made more than 100 self-portraits of Mexican men, going through the macho, queer and everything I could imagine."
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I made more than 100 self-portraits of Mexican men, going through the macho, queer and everything I could imagine

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‍Style and inspiration ‍

How does Morales find his models, or characters, as he calls them? "The first thing for me is to select the characters. They must be interesting and have something that fascinates me. Then I look for possible scenarios; I talk a little with the character about what I am looking for, and then I let everything flow, and take it as far as possible. I take my lighting everywhere, which is quite basic, so I don't do much editing. I just level tones and colours. Everything is important; however, I am very organic, and I let myself go with the flow."

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Morales uses a DSLR camera, with different lenses. "I used a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens for my projects, and 50mm for the portraits. I use flashes and lightboxes, because I want to create a dramatic atmosphere with a lot of passion, intense colours and seductive landscapes."

Several contemporary photographers of different breeds are inspiring to Morales, along with painters from the past. "I greatly admire photographers such as Graciela Iturbide, Ana Casas, and Roger Ballen, among others, and I have a lot of admiration for painting, especially for El Bosco, Rubens and Rembrandt. I am also inspired by classical music."

Since he was little, Morales has wanted to be a photographer. "It was like a dream for me, but I did not know how to start. I had other types of employment. For years, I worked in offices, so I had to gather my courage to quit my job. I bought my first camera, which was something decisive in my life. Soon, I started to photograph my culture, which was also a way of going back to my origin, since I returned to my home town."

In 2010, Morales began to take many photographs, without any academic study or prior knowledge. "I mainly worked with my intuition and passion, since I felt thrilled making photographs. But soon after I started, I realized that I had to train myself if I wanted to photograph seriously. When I had the opportunity, I quit my job and started studying contemporary photography. It took some time to realize my potential and my mission as a photographer, and I finally understood that I had to photograph the Muxe culture from a very particular point of view, since they had been photographed by many photographers, and I belong to this community. Throughout these years, my project has gone through different aesthetic currents, and I have found my own visual language and my own identity as a photographer."

Nelson Morales, was born in 1982 in Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca. He studied there until high school, and then moved to the city of Oaxaca to study communication sciences at the José Vasconcelos University. For nearly eleven years, he has devoted himself to photography. His work focuses mainly on sexual diversity and identity. He has held several individual and collective exhibitions in many countries, such as Spain, Malaysia, Colombia, Germany, India, Canada, Singapore, Uruguay, Brazil, Portugal, the United States, Greece, Costa Rica, Argentina, France, The Netherlands, and México.

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Website ‍

books: Musas Muxe - Nelson Morales, Fantastic Woman - Nelson Morales

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