The Red Carnations of Iguala is a photo book with text recounting a story from my grandmother’s childhood in Iguala, a city in central Mexico, where she lived briefly and witnessed the femicide of her childhood friend. The book features imagery of my grandmother from her young adulthood as the text tells the story of the femicide, remembered through the perspective of a child. The book serves as witness and memorial—both for the memory of Lupita and the loss of innocence experienced by grandmother.

This photo book was initially a short film with the same title, and was remade into a photo book in the summer of 2025 while on a residency in Berlin, Germany with the support of the book making studio at Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin. A copy of this photo book is currently touring as a part of an international photo book exhibition organized by The Racial Imaginary Institute (TRII), and curated by Claudia Rankine and John Lucas.

Photo: Renee Yamada