Todas somos Marías

María, seen through the lens of María Clara, becomes neologism, synonymous with woman, therefore, a noun. What does it mean to be one more María among all those Marías? To turn the pages of this book is to see Mary in her role, Mary in the right attitude, Mary in her loneliness. Likewise, Todos Somos Marías is presented as a subtle journey from childhood to adulthood of a certain type of woman: of an affluent class, urban. We know that the context is Guatemalan, but these photographs could come from any city in Latin America. This is highlighted by the critic and curator Adriana Teresa: “We are all Marias resonated deeply in me. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and men predominated in my family. When I discovered the images of De Tezanos, I understood what I was trying to convey. They capture the girl I was. ” Here there is no place for such a national identity, here the model is the Western, the way of life, the urban, and the spheres. This, in this area where machismo prevails, reduces its role to act, almost pantomimic, itself: a woman, urban, from Latin America. A game of continuous reflection, which is reflected in several images as in the photograph of a young woman looking in confronted mirrors. A photograph comes to break with the litany of good behavior: woman to the masculine aspect, who assumes, untidy, her difference.

Christina Chirouze