Oaxaca, Mexico

Edgardo Pacheco, left, and Jesús Vásquez weave a palapa, a common roof structure on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Typical palapas are crafted with wood and palm leaves, usually from a variety called royal palms.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Rutila Osorio Rodríguez carefully assembles bouquets of sunflowers that she grew in Santa María Colotepec, a town in Oaxaca, Mexico. “People from the community are buying them from us,” Osorio says. “Even people who are in the United States are sending us orders to be delivered to their relatives who are here.”

Emmanuel Palavecino arranges donated books in a mobile library cart at Plaza Almagro, a park in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The mobile library travels to the city’s markets to make literature more accessible to residents.

Mexico City, Mexico

Gerardo Alejo makes two doves appear during his magic act at a traffic light in Mexico City, Mexico. Alejo, who has been a magician for 10 years, started to perform here to raise extra money for his university education. After COVID-19 began, this work became his dominant source of income.

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico

From left, Porfirio Santis Gómez, 6, Claudia Santis Santis, 12, Angel Santis Gómez, 12, and Maria Santis Santis, 9, inspect one of the succulent plants they have been caring for at their homes in Tlaxcala, a neighborhood in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico. The children learned to grow succulents so they can sell the plants for 15 Mexican pesos (73 cents) each.

Ensenada, Argentina

Fabián Moriano cuts through the waves on his kiteboard outside the clubhouse of the Grupo de Aficionados al Surf a Vela, a local windsurfing and kitesurfing enthusiast group in Ensenada, a municipality in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province. “I’ve been kitesurfing for 10 years. During the months when I couldn’t go into the water because of the quarantine, I felt a lot of anxiety,” Moriano says. “Any sport with this [much] adrenaline resets your mind.”

Guaniquilla, Puerto Rico

Muralist Elvis Arroyo paints the Puerto Rican flag on a gazebo roof in his community of Guaniquilla, Puerto Rico. Community beautification organization Los Guardianes de la Costa de Guaniquilla commissioned the rooftop mural, which will be visible to the airplanes that fly over the coast.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Luckson Lamour, left, holds a thurible while Andy Roc adds incense at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. They have performed this task after Mass for the past seven years.

Aldama, Chiapas, Mexico

Mariano Hernández Jiménez gathers the red fruit from his coffee plants in Aldama, a town in southern Mexico’s Chiapas state. This is the first time he has tried to harvest his coffee plants since armed attacks between the municipalities of Aldama and Chenalhó intensified in 2018.

Añasco, Puerto Rico

Ismael “Cano” Pérez carves oak wood with a chisel and lathe at his workshop on the coast of Añasco, Puerto Rico. Pérez has been making wooden mortars, a skill he learned from his father, for local restaurants and individuals for 40 years. He says he feels the passing of the years; his hands no longer work like they did before. He plans to leave the space to his grandson who also does woodwork.

Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico

The dinosaur statues outside the Rehilete Interactive Museum encourage children to use face masks during the pandemic. The museum, located in Pachuca, a city in Mexico’s Hidalgo state, is closed due to the continued spread of the coronavirus.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Juan Ponce puts away cheese and lunch meat at a deli stand in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “This is not my thing,” Ponce says, drying the sweat off his forehead. “I studied art up to my third year in the university in Venezuela before I emigrated. But it’s nice in Buenos Aires. It’s a very diverse, very open city.”

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

Ras Waly, left, and Kevin Otero admire the sunset while playing music in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Punta Cometa, Oaxaca, Mexico

Itay Refaely, who is from Israel, and Van Dien, from Vietnam, enjoy the sunrise in Punta Cometa, a popular tourist spot in Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, visitors from all over the world continue to come to this community ecological reserve situated on Mexico’s outermost point in the Pacific Ocean to replenish their energy and enjoy the scenery.

San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca, Mexico

José Antonio García works on a clay model at his family’s workshop in San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca, Mexico. García developed glaucoma 18 years ago, which caused him to go blind. He asked his wife, Reina Mendoza Sánchez, to help him continue his work. Now, García shapes the pieces, and Mendoza adds the details.

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico

Alberto López Santiz sells balloons and pinwheels in Plaza de la Paz in downtown San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico.

Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, Mexico

Tamara Rivas uses a process called randa to make a Tlacolula garment at her home in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca. There are only a few craftspeople left who practice the difficult randa process. Local women wear these traditional garments to an annual community celebration, and they’re often passed down from mother to daughter.

Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Martha Cuevas performs traditional songs with mariachi group Mariachi Alma Ranchera during a Sunday concert in the central courtyard of Casa de la Cultura José Ángel Palou Pérez, in the city of Puebla, Mexico. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, members of the group had to remain a safe distance apart from one another.

San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico

Carlo Magno sculpts with clay collected from a nearby hill in San Bartolo Coyotepec, a town in Oaxaca, Mexico. After molding, the clay goes through a special firing process that gives local ceramics a distinctive black color.

Puebla, Puebla, Mexico

Axel Cervantes, 11, prepares his favorite meal – sausages with potatoes, tomatoes and chipotle peppers – at his home in Puebla, Mexico. Axel learned to cook during the pandemic, when his mother had to take an afternoon shift at her job. “I used to be scared to light the stove, and I didn’t know how to use the blender,” he says. “Now I know how to make the meals I like, and I think they turn out really well.”

Mexico City, Mexico

Dentists Jesús Godínez, left, and Mónica García inspect the teeth of Mateo Gómez, 7, at Kids Dental, a dentist’s office in Azcapotzalco, Mexico City. Mateo’s mother brought him in because of intense pain in one of his molars. Mateo was nervous about the visit, so the dentists put on a movie and tried to make him feel comfortable.

Tecámac, Mexico

Oscar Espinoza tends to products at his antique shop, El Precio del Tiempo, one of the few antique stores in Tecámac, in the state of Mexico. “This sells really well in Coyoacán, San Ángel, La Roma (Mexico City), but it’s difficult here, especially right now,” Espinoza says. “People prefer to spend their money on food and health, not on things like this.”

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Ramón Torres makes shoes at his shop in downtown Guadalajara. Torres, 75, has worked in shoemaking since he was 8 years old. He has noticed that local shoe quality has declined over the years with the introduction of synthetic materials – although, he notes, prices have remained about the same.

Chihuahua, Mexico

The plaza outside the Cathedral of Chihuahua in Chihuahua, Mexico, usually bustles with older adults who pass time on the benches and families who come to shop at the mobile vendors. The plaza has been closed since November due to the spread of the coronavirus.