Day of the Dead   
Day of the Dead is a holiday that focuses on remembering friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it is a national holiday. Click on a thumbnail image for preview and caption.
 

Coconut Grove, Florida: Arts Festival; human skeletons, Day of Dead theme. March 2007 ©Jeff Greenberg/ The Image Works
EGRB0233403
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. This girl is in the costume of an &quotAngelito", a Little Angel, symbolizing children who die before having their First Communion. She is participating in a &quotcomparsa", a procession of children in costume, to celebrate the Day of the Dead, when Oaxacans honor their dead ancestors. October 2008 ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301990
Mexico: Day of the Dead celebration ©Mark Godfrey / The Image Works
CGFY0047

Oaxaca; Mexico; North America. Day of the Dead Celebration. Boy Placing a Candle on a Family Member's Grave, Decorated with Marigolds, the traditional flower used on this occasion. November 2008. © Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0304647
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Childrens' Parade, Procession, &quotComparsa", in Memory of the Dead. Costumes. October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301971
On the “Day of the Dead”, traditional ritual of the ethnic Aymara and Quechua people, in the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia, friends and family pay tribute to the deceased, by paying trumpet players to play the tune he or she liked. Chapi Kkollu Cemetery, Oruro, Bolivia. November 2, 2008. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618652

Matatlan, Oaxaca; Mexico; North America. Day of the Dead Celebration. Offerings in front of Family Altar. Bread of the dead (pan de muertos), jicama, oranges, mezcal, alcohol, liquor, bananas, chocolate, incense. apple. November 2008. © Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0304659
Oaxaca , Mexico - Children put on masks and costumes on the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). On this day Oaxacans build altars to the dead, or dress as skeletons. 10/30/2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works <br><br>
EBCN0301672
Oaxaca, Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), students from the University of Oaxaca build an altar in memory of the many women killed in Ciudad Juarez in the last ten years, in the main cemetary of Oaxaca City. October 30 2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works <br><br><br><br>
EBCN0301656

Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Roasted Grasshoppers for Sale in the Market. &quotThe small ones are best." October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301983
Texas schoolchildren wait before performing at the annual Kyle, TX &quotDay of the Dead" or Dia de Los Muertos celebration just south of Austin. Day of the Dead is a Mexican national holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for a remember departed loved ones. Gatherings often take place in cemeteries where food is served and graves cleaned and decorated. 2011 © Bob Daemmrich / The Image Works
EDAE0423801
Oaxaca , Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Oaxacans build altars to the dead, and dress as skeletons in costumes. Students from the University of Oaxaca build altars to the dead in the main cemetary of Oaxaca City 10/30/ 2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works
EBCN0301663

A macabre dressed woman waits at the annual Kyle, TX &quotDay of the Dead" or Dia de Los Muertos celebration just south of Austin. Day of the Dead is a Mexican national holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for a remember departed loved ones. Gatherings often take place in cemeteries where food is served and graves cleaned and decorated. 2011 © Bob Daemmrich / The Image Works
EDAE0423805
Mexico, Quintana Roo, Saban. October 24, 2010. A young boy in the Maya village of Saban with a skeleton mask celebrating the Day of the Death or Dia de los Muertos. ©Teake Zuidema/The Image Works
EZDM0417945
The celebration of the “Day of the Dead”, ritual tradition. Iroko cemetery, Oruro, Bolivia. November 2, 2008. The “Day of the Dead” is a traditional ritual that is performed by many people of different cultures. In the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia, there are two main ethnic groups that practice this ritual: the Aymara and Quechua. This ancient ceremony aims to honor the memory of the deceased, with different ways of doing this, depending on where it is conducted. It is held over three days from October 31st until November 2nd, in which the souls of deceased loved ones visit the earth. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618634

Mexico City, Mexico: October 26, 2007. Mario de la Cruz sells traditional Dia de los Muertos papel picados at his market stall in Sonora Market. The otherwise very traditional market, is full of Halloween costumes and decorations this time of year, competing with the traditional Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead. ©Sarah Meghan Lee / The Image Works
ELEE0384741
An elderly woman with an umbrella, at the cemetery of Chapi Kkollu, in Oruro, Bolivia. November 2, 2008. The “Day of the Dead” is a traditional ritual that is performed by many people of different cultures. In the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia, there are two main ethnic groups that practice this ritual: the Aymara and Quechua. This ancient ceremony aims to honor the memory of the deceased, with different ways of doing this, depending on where it is conducted. It is held over three days from October 31st until November 2nd, in which the souls of deceased loved ones visit the earth. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618654
Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, October, 2004, Indidenously dressed families visit the graves of their relatives to meet with them, talk to them and celebrate the ritual known as &quotday of the dead," in the cemetery in the city of Santa Maria de Jesus, in the Departmento (State) of Sacatepequez in the country of Guatemala. ©David H Wells / The Image Works<br><br><br><br>
EWEL0243855

Oaxaca; Mexico; North America. Day of the Dead Celebration. Mementos of the Deceased in a Case above the Grave, San Miguel Cemetery, Oaxaca. November 2008. © Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0304651
Masked Mam Mayans participate in the “Dance of the Bulls” in the central plaza of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala on the first day of the town’s annual patron saint celebration, which culminates on All Saints’ Day and ends on Day of the Dead. Guatemela. Oct 31, 2007. ©Jorge Uzon / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0609763
Oaxaca, Mexico, North America. Day of the Dead Celebrations. Cemetery Entrance Decorations, Skeleton in the &quotCatrina" Style Popularized by Mexican Artist Jose Guadalupe Posada. November 2008. © Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0304646

Oaxaca , Mexico - Children put on masks and costumes on the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). On this day Oaxacans build altars to the dead, or dress as skeletons. 10/30/2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works <br><br>
EBCN0301669
Oaxaca , Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Oaxacans build altars to the dead, and dress as skeletons in costumes. Students from the University of Oaxaca build altars to the dead in the main cemetary of Oaxaca City 10/30/ 2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works
EBCN0301664
Oaxaca , Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Oaxacans build altars to the dead, and dress as skeletons in costumes. 10/30/2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works
EBCN0301660

The altar tomb of an infant who lived only one day after birth, during the “Day of the Dead”, traditional ritual of the ethnic Aymara and Quechua people, in the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia. November 1, 2008. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618648
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Selling Marigolds, the traditional flower for decorating family altars and graves. October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301980
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Oaxacans Observing a Children's Performance, to Celebrate All Souls Day, in the Zocalo, or Town Square. October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301977

SANTIAGO DE JUXTLAHUACA, OAXACA, MEXICO: November 4, 2008. Alejandro Vera and his wife in front of their altar at home for Day of the Dead. Vera is an artist famous throughout Mexico for the devil masks he makes for the Danza de los Diablos, one of the most impotant indigenous cultural celebrations in Oaxaca. He lives in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, one of the poorest areas in Mexico. Indigenous Mixtec, Triqui and other groups from this region now make up a large percentage of the migrants who have left to work in the United States. ©David Bacon / The Image Works
EBCN0301906
Mexico City, Mexico: Aztec indian in traditional dress performing a spiritual ceremony using smoke on the Day of the Dead in Mexico City. ©David R. Frazier / The Image Works
EFRA0259801
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Childrens' Parade, Procession, &quotComparsa", in Memory of the Dead. Costumes. Sand Painting in the Street. October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301972

An altar tomb to receive the souls of the dead with offerings, marking the “Day of the Dead”, the traditional ritual of the ethnic Aymara and Quechua people, in the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia. November 1, 2008. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618645
Oaxaca, Mexico - Day of the Dead Celebrations. Indian Girl Balloon Vendor, Zocalo, Town Square, Plaza de Armas. October 2008. ©Charles O. Cecil / The Image Works
ECEC0301973
Detail of a traditional Day of the Dead altar in a Mexican home. ©Paul Ross / V&W / The Image Works
EVAW0254889

Oaxaca , Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Oaxacans build altars to the dead, and dress as skeletons in costumes. Students from the University of Oaxaca build altars to the dead in the main cemetary of Oaxaca City 10/30/ 2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works
EBCN0301665
Family and friends pray at the tomb of their loved ones. Chapi Kkollu Cemetery, Oruro, Bolivia. November 2, 2008. The “Day of the Dead” is a traditional ritual that is performed by many people of different cultures. In the area of Oruro, south of La Paz, Bolivia, there are two main ethnic groups that practice this ritual: the Aymara and Quechua. This ancient ceremony aims to honor the memory of the deceased, with different ways of doing this, depending on where it is conducted. It is held over three days from October 31st until November 2nd, in which the souls of deceased loved ones visit the earth. ©Javier Heinzmann / Majority World / The Image Works
EMJW0618639
Oaxaca, Mexico - On the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Oaxacans light candles in the grave wall niches in the city's main cemetary. October 30 2008 ©David Bacon / The Image Works <br>
EBCN0301655

The Day of the Dead Festival, Mexico City, Mexico. ©Emile D'Edesse / Impact / HIP / The Image Works
EHIP5712931
Mexico City, Mexico: painted skull is part of a public art display in celebration of Day of the Dead in Mexico City.<br>©David R. Frazier / The Image Works
EFRA0259827
Villagers from Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Guatemala, walk through the streets of the town with the carnival in the background, on the second day of the town’s annual patron saint celebration, which culminates on All Saints’ Day and ends on Day of the Dead. Guatemala. Nov 1, 2007. ©Jorge Uzon / Majority World / The Image Works - LowRes Image Allow 24to48 hours for HiRes Delivery
EMJW0609765

PATZCUARO, MICHOACAN, MEXICO: Day of the Dead observances in Tzintzuntzan, on Lake Patzcuaro near Patzcuaro, Michoacan. The communities around Patzcuaro are among the last communities in Mexico with traditional Day of the Dead observances. Day of the Dead is a pre-Columbian holiday honoring deceased friends and loved ones. When Mexico was conquered by the Spanish, indigenous peoples combined the holiday with the Catholic holy day of All Saints Day. November 1, 1997 ©Jack Kurtz / The Image Works<br>
EKRZ035581
A Day of the Dead altar in a traditional Mexican home. ©Paul Ross / V&W / The Image Works
EVAW0254888
Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico: Candy skulls used in the celebration of the Day of the Dead holiday, for sale in the market. November 1, 1997 ©Jack Kurtz / The Image Works
CKRZ0813


phone: 800-475-8801  845-679-8500    fax: 845-679-0606
Home | Search | Email | Help

© 2010 The Image Works. All Rights Reserved
Important: All the images on this site are distributed by The Image Works, are the property of the photographers and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. They may not be reproduced, stored, manipulated, and/or digitized without the written permission of The Image Works. Images may be used for viewing, comping and layout purposes only.