Mexico City, Mexico came in as major city #66 on my Major City project and here I’ll share a few first impressions covering the city with my camera during my work there.
Not many cities have brought me more diverse opinions. While a reputation of danger scares many away, others find a surprisingly interesting, historic and cleaned up city. The truth is Mexico City does warrant caution, especially outside the more touristic spots, but it’s also one of the more complex, attractive and memorable big cities you’ll experience. And big it is. Packed with culture and history around the buzzing center, you’ll also find a modern, contemporary city. You’ll find plenty of edge too. This brings more character, but bring your street smarts, as mine were needed on multiple occasions here. For street photography, there’s a charm to it that feels authentic and edgy, bringing a unique appeal that I’d recommend, warnings and all.
So here are my first impressions of Mexico City, from a personal street photographer perspective…
7 First Impressions of Mexico City
(From a Street Photography Perspective)
1. Around the Old Town
Mexico City has one of the most impressive old towns around in Latin America. I’d say only Quito and Havana rival it, but neither on as grand of scale. Also, being “Centro,” it has a busy downtown feeling blended in with older architecture and character.
Zócalo is its central square and center of tourism. Near here, you’ll also find the famous Templo Mayor ruins. For me, it’s more touristy than I like for photography, but many will love it. The surrounding area is where I enjoyed walking more for street photography, though.
Some of my favorite spots around the Old Town were Alameda Central and Garibaldi. Alameda Central has my favorite large urban park in the city for variety of activity and life, while Garibaldi mixes a little more edge in with the its Mariachi atmosphere. Plaza Garibaldi was renamed in 1920 and has since become strongly associated with the most Mexican genre of music, Mariachi. Musicians in full traditonal attire hang out here along with other related attractions. It does get a little edgier this way and as you go further north, but I found myself exploring up here whenever in the center.
2. Dangers are real, but much is avoidable
Mexico City has a pretty bad reputation when it comes to safety. Look online and you’ll think there’s no escaping getting mugged once you step out on the street. The truth is, for most, it feels fine and they leave without trouble. But there is plenty of reason, and data, for the warnings too. Like with most cities, it really depends on where you go and how street smart you are.
The center, where most visitors go, generally feels pretty safe, especially during the day. There’s so many attractions, people, and police around that you shouldn’t feel unsafe. Petty theft like pick-pocketing is still a danger, of course, though.
During my Major City work, it’s one of only a few places pick-pocketing has been attempted on me. Luckily, I caught what was going on and somehow startled the man into dropping my phone just as he had swiped it from my pocket. In my case, they worked in a team, where a woman within a crowd started pushing her chest up against me and immediately started yelling at me as if I was the one initiating it. Then, as I’m distracted, a man behind picked my pocket and tried to run off with my phone. Her actions were so strange to me, that luckily, my first reaction was slapping both hands down on my pockets. So, keep your belongings secure at all times, watch your surroundings, and you shouldn’t have to worry much about violent crime during the day in the center.
Outside the center and a few nicer neighborhoods, things do get sketchier quick. I was followed multiple times and had one man try to trick me into coming closer, but keeping your distance from everyone and trusting no one is the best defense against anything happening. Most of these places are areas you probably wouldn’t be interested in visiting, anyway, but for street photography they can be. Just be careful.
3. Outskirts of the center have some edge. And danger.
Once you start exploring outside the Centro/Old Town is where you can quickly feel it starting getting edgier. And yes, more dangerous, but there’s a lot of character to be found. My favorite areas on the edge were exploring past the south and north ends of centro. While many locals told me they don’t go past here, Tepito was one of my favorite areas on these outskirts. While followed and eyed a few times here, there’s busy streets nearby that you can quickly get back to. Keeping your distance between suspicious strangers is a good deterrent when venturing away.
Tepito feels older and has colorful scenery and character mixed in with the edge. There’s an artistic subculture found and felt here too, along with its reputation of being home to many boxers and gangs. In addition, it’s home to a large traditional open-air market, called a tianguis, and a flea market.
4. Dia del Muerte brings pluses and minus
I went during the famous holiday of Dia del Muerte, but I made sure to stay after too so I could get both impressions. Most visitors will want to go during the holiday, but for street photography, it can depend on what you’re looking for. It’s definitely a chaotic and unique celebration in Mexico City, so photo ops will be plentiful. For me, though, big events come with pluses and minuses. The big plus is you have guaranteed interest for photography, the minus is the event overwhelms your photos. If you’re coming to shoot that event, then that’s perfect, but if you also want to shoot the day-to-day city life, it can take from that. So, while I enjoyed the major celebrations, I probably enjoyed exploring the city life just as much afterwards when I got a real feel for Mexico City.
Dia del Muerte definitely packs the city and continues to get bigger and bigger, as more and more people visit for the celebrations. Centro is where the biggest festivities happen, but be prepared for crowds, especially on the most important events. Around the city you can find other events too that I’d recommend. Coyoacan has a great celebration combined with charming scenery in this trendy neighborhood. And I’d highly recommend going to Panteón de Dolores cemetery, where all the locals celebrate around the graves throughout the day. There’s a more famous cemetery celebration outside of the city, but it’s still a long ride away and this one provides plenty of interest and activity within the city.
5. Mix of History and Modernity
Mexico City is one of the stronger combinations of historic old and modern metropolis you’ll find, which I really enjoy in a big city. This brings a ton of character and atmosphere along with the variety of life a big modern city contains. There’s many faces to Mexico City and this combination of old and new is a big reason for that. The present and past clash, creating interest and a unique place for street photography. When it comes to Latin America, Mexico City is at the top of the list for such a combination too. The history, culture, religion and architecture is all there to explore and experience, along with the new modern era in one of the world’s biggest cities.
6. Similarities to NYC for street photography, minus 20 years?
On multiple occasions, I’d been told by photographers that Mexico City reminded them of a New York City 20-30 years ago in some ways, at least more than most cities. As in the character, life and edge they felt back then when out shooting the city. I can’t say, of course, but I could see some similarities where one might feel that. It’s massive, edgy, filled with character and characters, raw, rugged and full of authenticity. There’s some mixture of American influence found within it too, especially compared to the rest of Mexico.
I find the authentic big city life in Mexico City as interesting as just about anywhere in Latin America, and I’d say the same about NYC in the USA. It’s a little more of a challenge than an NYC, but it’s definitely there to find. For truly BIG city life with a latin atmosphere, this is about as good as it gets.
7. Lots of neighborhoods to explore
I love cities with a variety of neighborhoods of different character to explore. There’s certain major cities that stand out in this category due to the sheer number and variety of atmospheres. Cities like New York, London, Istanbul, Tokyo and Sao Paulo come to mind. Mexico City is up there too. Whatever you want, you can find, and whatever you didn’t know you want, you’ll probably find here too. It’s a city that provides an amount of unique neighborhoods that would last a local.
Out of Mexico City’s endless number of neighborhoods, here’s my top areas to explore with your camera:
- Centro Historico/Parque Alameda
- Zocalo/Av Francisco I. Madero
- Plaza Garibaldi
- Paseo de la Reforma
- La Condesa
- Coyoacan (Jardin Centenario/Jardin Plaza Hidalgo)
- Tepito
- Roma
If any of you have been to Mexico City before, tell me about your experience and impressions of the city and country in the comments below! And stay tuned for more on Mexico City, including some of the best Street Photography shots I captured while there.
Click Here for More First Impressions on Cities Around the World
(from a street photographer’s perspective)
Fantastic images, the one with the lady talking on the phone is my favorite!