A photographic tribute to the LGBTQ creative youth who is currently contributing to Mexican culture.
Through her reportage, fashion and portrait work, Mayan Toledano shares the stories of her queer community, exploring their interior lives with empathy and respect. Her photography is characterized by its colorful dreaminess, and she often captures her young subjects in their bedrooms. Although Toledano is based in New York, she has found herself increasingly drawn to Mexico City, a place she considers a creative safe haven. No Mames pays tribute to the local LGBTQ artists, designers and creatives who are currently contributing to Mexican culture—many of whom are couples, roommates, childhood friends. The series' portraiture follows a two-fold process: first, she captures her subjects as they present themselves in everyday life; then, she photographs them as they would like to appear, facilitating the construction of their fantasy selves. This collaborative act of wish-fulfillment sometimes coincides with real-life transformations; for instance, she follows one of subjects, Havi, over the course of her gender transition, during which she underwent breast augmentation surgery.
Mayan Toledano is an Israeli Moroccan director / photographer based in New York. From reportage to fashion to portraiture, her work encompasses themes like gender identity, gay culture, the female body, intimacy and relationships, and is characterized by strong senses of humanity, empathy, femininity and rebellion. Whether created in New York City or Mexico City, Toledano's photography often concerns the interior lives of young people—existences that greatly revolve around the bedroom. "Your bedroom is the first place that is your own and private, and it's your first place to be creative," Toledano has written. "There's something really vulnerable about letting people into your space and we created these personal images of people being and becoming an authentic version of themselves, all done in collaboration." Toledano's work has been featured in i-D, Vogue, W Magazine, Teen Vogue, Them and the New York Times, among other publications.
