For the past four decades, Dallas-based photographer Laura Wilson has been captivated by Mexico, documenting its vibrant culture, complex social realities, and everyday life through her camera lens. The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University is now showcasing this extensive body of work in "Roaming Mexico: Laura Wilson," an exhibition running through January 11 that features nearly 90 images spanning Wilson's 40-year photographic journey across America's southern neighbor.

"The contrast and the energy you get from the contrast of Mexico is a wonderful thing," Wilson explained about her enduring fascination with the country. Most of the photographs in the exhibition have never been published before, with some images created specifically for this show. The exhibition offers Wilson's deeply personal perspective of Mexico, exploring what she describes as the contradictions and unique vibrancy that define the nation.

Complementing Wilson's contemporary work is "Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Visions of Mexico," which showcases more than 30 silver gelatin prints by one of Latin America's most influential photographers. These historical images, taken between the 1920s and 1980s, are drawn from the collections of the Meadows Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, providing historical context to Wilson's modern interpretation.

Wilson's photographic journey began with a chance encounter that would shape decades of artistic exploration. One of her first photographs of Mexico captured a fire-breather who suddenly appeared as she and a friend sat in a stopped car shortly after crossing the border. "I had never seen anything like this before. It was a stunning picture to me, and I thought, 'Mexico is it. I've got to go back,'" Wilson recalled. Twenty years later, she encountered another fire-breather and created a dramatic diptych combining both images, adjusting colors to enhance the visual impact.

The exhibition reveals Wilson's fascination with Mexico's street life and everyday moments. "I love street life," she said. "You can get breakfast – breakfast tacos – you can be on horseback heading into a major city in Mexico, or you can be trucking chickens along or taking a bus car. This is all the life of the street." Her photographs capture festivals, religious processions, traditional farms, and the spontaneous energy of Mexican urban environments.

Wilson doesn't shy away from documenting Mexico's harsh realities alongside its beauty. Her work includes images of the construction of thirty-foot-high border barriers, law enforcement officers, and migrant camps. She has photographed Mexico's poorest citizens, capturing their resilience and determination with remarkable sensitivity. In one particularly powerful image, a young girl poses protectively in front of her father and sister. "I didn't tell this little girl how to look at the camera, but the strength at which she is facing the camera and also keeping me at a distance. She's no nonsense," Wilson observed.

The exhibition also features portraits of significant cultural figures, including Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez, writer Carlos Fuentes, and architects Ricardo Legorreta and Alberto Kalach. Wilson photographed Mexican folk art collectors Jaime Ristra and Patricia Ortiz Monasterio at home among their impressive collection. "They know every single piece," Wilson noted about the collectors' intimate knowledge of their artifacts.

Wilson's approach to portraiture is methodical and respectful. She photographed artisan and agricultural workers, often capturing them at work. Her philosophy about authentic representation is evident in her interaction with subjects. When she met a man at a Mexico City market who eagerly grinned at the camera, she explained she preferred he not smile. "A smile is often a mask," Wilson said. "You often see more of what a person is when a person quiets himself or herself and you can see something in the face." Remarkably, twenty years later, she encountered the same man, who remembered her and struck a more serious pose.

Language has never been a barrier in Wilson's work. She engages with all her subjects, ensuring that everyone from dignitaries to tortilla makers knows they are being photographed. Her serious, respectful approach resonates with people across cultural and social boundaries. "If you approach someone with respect and seriousness, they get that this isn't just a snapshot. This is something more," Wilson explained.

One of the exhibition's highlights is a series documenting an oxen parade in Juchitán, Oaxaca. Over five nights, more than 100 decorated oxen carts paraded through the town during La Feria de las Velas. "It was a major parade. I've never seen a better parade," Wilson said. Her photographs of the event showcase her artistic technique of adjusting colors and layering images to create compositions that reflect her personal memory and emotional response to the experience.

Wilson's artistic process involves significant post-production work, where she manipulates color and combines images to create her vision of Mexico. "Many of them are not real. They're more my memory and my feelings about the day and the situation I saw," she explained. This approach allows her to convey not just the visual reality of Mexico but her emotional and artistic interpretation of the country that has captivated her for four decades. The exhibition represents a comprehensive look at Mexico through the eyes of an artist who has developed an intimate, complex relationship with the country and its people over nearly half a century.