Uprooted: Braceros

Uprooted: Braceros in the Hermanos Mayo Lens, a mesmerizing compilation of impacting historical photos, serves as a double introduction: first, to a photographic collective that was the pioneer of photojournalism in Mexico and, second, to Mexican images of the guest workers that have previously only been portrayed in this country through the lenses of American photographers. Originally founded in Spain during the early 1930s, the Mayo Brothers collective was re-established by its exiled founders in Mexico just following the Spanish Civil War. The collective of left-wing photojournalists documented the life of the working class for more than five decades.

Two scholars have now plumbed the rich Mayo Brothers archive in Mexico's Secretariate of Foreign Relations to select the photos represented here on one of the most controversial cross-cultural subjects of their time: the Bracero Program. This landmark coffee table book offers 83 historical photos and an introduction documenting their importance.