By Pieter Henket
Publisher: Damiani
Publication date: April 2026
Print length: 144 pages
Language: English
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Pieter Henket: Birds of Mexico City presents a striking series of portraits shaped by renewal, presence, and collective imagination. Created in the period following the global pause of the pandemic, the book reflects a moment when creative communities sought new ways to gather, reflect, and redefine themselves. Henket’s time in Mexico City became less about observation and more about participation, allowing the portraits to emerge from shared experience rather than distance.
Working alongside stylist Chino Castilla, Henket cultivated an open studio environment where artists, performers, and makers could experiment freely. This space functioned as both refuge and stage, drawing together dancers, designers, and artisans whose practices bridge past and present. Within this setting, portraiture becomes a dialogue, shaped collaboratively through costume, gesture, and gaze. The resulting images feel intentional yet unguarded, balancing formality with intimacy.
Mexico City itself permeates the work, not as a backdrop but as a living force. Cultural symbols, handcrafted objects, and references to ritual appear throughout, grounding each subject in a broader historical continuum. At the same time, these elements are reinterpreted, layered with contemporary expressions of gender, identity, and selfhood. Henket’s portraits honor tradition without fixing it in place, allowing it to evolve through those who carry it forward.
The book unfolds across three thematic chapters: The Divine Feminine, The Masculine, and Mexican Culture and Artifacts. Rather than rigid categories, these sections operate as fluid points of entry, revealing overlaps and tensions between roles, symbols, and lived realities. The sequencing encourages reflection on how identity is assembled, negotiated, and performed in both private and communal contexts.
Visually refined and emotionally resonant, Birds of Mexico City captures a generation in motion. Henket’s classical sensibility meets a contemporary urgency, producing portraits that feel timeless yet rooted in the present. The book stands as a testament to creative resilience and to the enduring power of collaboration in shaping how we see ourselves and one another.