The town of Pomuch, in the state of Campeche, Mexico, continues to celebrate the ancient Maya tradition of Choo Ba’ak, the cleaning of the bones. Toward the end of October, in the days leading up to the Day of the Dead celebrations, local families remove the bones of their ancestors from their resting places and clean them. They then adorn them and place them back in boxes lined with clean, white, elaborately embroidered linen cloth. The people of the town graciously open the cemetery where this takes place for visitors to pay their respects. On the day of the dead itself, the town stages a parade with fabulously intricate, home made costumes and stunning make up. After the parade, there’s a huge party in the town square.

What follows is a collection of portraits of both the living and the dead.