Tim Webmoor provides the following caption for his photograph: “Nightly Nahua ritual on Cortes's paved plaza covering the Aztec religious and political axis mundi - Tenochtitlan. 'Aztec dancers' dance-protest on the zocalo and in front of the national cathedral and national palace which were all constructed from the stone taken from the deconstruction of the Aztec templo mayor.”

I really liked how this photograph managed to convey a very visual sense of the collision of past and present. The dancers do not wear tradition clothing, but the blur of their bodies in the photograph stands in contrast to the sharpness of the building, making them look almost like ghosts—or reminders of the past. Although they are the real focus of the photo, it does not approach them head on, centering in on them or showing their faces—instead, it shows them facing and responding to the building that is the subject of their protest, and which is in the center of the photo. It is brightly lit, while the dancers stand in shadow. The grainy black and white look, long shadows, and odd lighting give it an eerie feel.

The caption is also important—it provides a context to the photo that enhances the sense of eeriness rather than explaining it away. The conflict of past and present, beyond mere encounter, is emphasized by the “stone taken for the deconstruction of the Aztec templo mayor.” The dancers are ghosts in a sense—their land, culture, and even their stone has been taken from them—but they themselves remain to remind us. Nonetheless, it is the modern building that is focused and brightly-lit—and will presumably prevail.