When I encountered this parade performer in Oaxaca, Mexico two years ago I was riveted. As if every deeply gaurded secret of humans was revealed, as if every dark impulse was given a life. Our frightening shadows brought center stage.....safely. With aluminum foil daggers and red tempera blood. With grotesque masks that revealed warm, smiling eyes inviting me to photograph. And it felt so safe and right to hold both. Because life includes this shadow and rather it be given prime time in a street fiesta then suppressed until it grows into explosive behaviors.