SMAIL is a photobook by Alessandro Bo published by Inframundo. During the 1950s, immigrants from the United States, Canada, and Europe began to flock to the town of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, which for them, became a secret paradise where they were able to find an abundance of great food, parties, and art for a much lower price than they could in their respective countries. Now, San Miguel is known for luxurious spas, cafes, galleries, and hotels, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. This commercialized version of San Miguel conceals a debaucherous past. Artist Alessandro Bo attempts to unveil this past in SMAIL. In this 84 page book, held in a handmade case, Alessandro juxtaposes archival photographs of foreigners in San Miguel de Allende during the second half of the 20th century, as well as current photographs of San Miguel’s tourists by Alessandro.
Alessandro Bo is an artist from Mexico City, Mexico. He studied photography at the TAFE Queensland Institute. Bo’s work has been shown in Mexico, Australia and the Dominican Republic. He has received numerous awards including the PDN Street Photography Award (2015), finalist of the Iberoamerican Photobook contest (Editorial RM, 2013) and winner of the Mexican Foundation for Film and Art contest.
Inframundo is an independent publisher and collective based in Mexico, which experiments with different narrative tools and hybrid production practices in order to produce photobooks. A project of Hydra, Inframundo is Ana Casas Broda, José Luis Lugo, and Ramon Pez.
