Day of the Dead in Oaxaca
with Marcela Taboada
October 29 – November 3, 2025
Course Description
Oaxaca is one of the most enchanting and captivating cities of southern Mexico. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it encompasses the country’s diverse stages of history—pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary—and is renowned for its music, gastronomy, handicrafts, and traditions.
One of the most important Oaxacan traditions is the celebration of Day of the Dead, an intimate family observance where locals gather in their homes to pay tribute to their ancestors, who are celebrated with honor. It is believed that their souls return to visit, and for that reason families prepare altars laden with their favorite food and drink, adorned by orange flowers known as cempasuchitl. These petals also lead up to the altars, helping the dead find their way.
Coming out of retirement to once again lead this workshop, Oaxaca-based photographer Marcela Taboada offers participants the chance to photograph the colorful Day of the Dead celebrations in her hometown. During this extraordinary rich photographic week, you turn your lenses on family altars, sand tapestries, market scenes, and graveyards full of candles and flowers, as well as on unique festivities during excursions outside the city. Our host in Oaxaca is the Hotel Parador de Alcalá (paradordealcalaoaxaca.mx), located on a pedestrian-only street where various comparsas (dances and parades) are held just outside the front door.
This is Marcela’s fifth time leading this unique Day of the Dead program, and Mexican photographer Ita Gelada once again handles logistics and choreographs the many activities spread over this full week. Marcela leads group meetings for discussions on photographic practices and to review your new images. In addition, Marcela offers individual one-on-one sessions to assist you in improving your personal approach to photography. All the while, you immerse yourself in the natural light and people of Oaxaca—a splendid and unique cultural venue perfect for visual exploration.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
Working knowledge of digital workflow and manual mode on your digital SLR camera. Participants must be able to download, select, and transfer images to their own jump drive for class each day. Experience with low-light photography is helpful.
Special Notes:
Participants should plan to travel to Oaxaca no later than 1:00 pm (Central Time) on Wednesday, October 29. Workshop check-in will be on Wednesday afternoon, followed by a welcome gathering and group dinner. The workshop ends on Monday evening, November 3, with a final dinner; travel home should be scheduled for Tuesday, November 4.
Activity Level:
To get the most from this international experience, participants should be in good physical (mobility, stamina) and mental health. In general, arrive prepared for long days and seasonal weather including variable temperatures. You must be able to carry your own photographic and personal gear at all times. You are responsible for being open and honest about your physical fitness, and we reserve the right to remove you from the workshop if we find your fitness to be less than that which you have described.
Policies:
View Payment, Refund, Withdrawal, and Transfer Policies for this International Program.
Accommodations:
Refer to Package Price description for details on lodging and meals.
Package Price INFO:
$4,645 (USD) includes double accommodations for 6 nights at Hotel Parador de Alcalá (Wednesday through Monday nights—ideal for couples and friends traveling together; single supplement for solo travelers is an additional $650), breakfast daily, three lunches, opening and closing dinners, group transportation for locations, as well as guest speaker, location, and guide fees.
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about
Marcela Taboada is a freelance photographer based in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has worked on long-term projects for more than 35 years and has created more than twenty stories including “Timeless Homes,” “The AAA Oaxaca Warriors,” “Women of Clay, “Life is Elsewhere,” “Distant Links,” “Enabled,” and “Consecrated Cloistered Mexican Nuns in the 21st century.” Marcela’s work has been published in numerous publications, books, art catalogues, and magazines.
Marcela’s photographs have been exhibited in various museums and galleries in Mexico and abroad. Her work is in the following collections: Sonoma Museum of Art, The Hasselblad Center, Copenhagen Fotografisk Center, Sonoma Museum of Art, Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Fifty Crows Gallery, The Wittliff Collection, Centro de la Imagen, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Oaxaca, among others.
She has received various awards, scholarships, and distinctions such as the Hasselblad Foundation stipend, National Geographic All Roads Photographers, Photo Lucida, Mexico-Indonesia Cultural Exchange, National System of Art Creators FONCA, Nikon Tokyo Jury in Japan, Héctor and María García Foundation Award.
Marcela is a professor of photography at universities and high schools, as well as teaching children and teens in vulnerable situations, plus blind photographers. She has been tutoring at FONCA Young Creators. She has taught workshops for the Manuel Álvarez Bravo Photographic Center from 1996 to 2012, she produced workshops in Oaxaca with Mary Ellen Mark.
Click HERE to listen to Marcela’s interview on B & H Explora Photography Podcasts.
Website: marcelataboada.com
