Francis Peppett Photography

San Sebastian, a small village nestled in Oaxaca's Sierra Madre mountains. A place of pine forests, songbirds, shamanic practice and steaming temazcals. As the sun dips below the horizon, we amble around as people return from work, pick up dinner and hang out in the cool early-evening air.

Oaxaca, a city of crumbling colonial architecture, distinct Zapotec history and subversive political protest. Street pottering is an activity in itself here, and as we wander down one street, I catch a builder lugging bricks into one of the city's many courtyards.

As we stroll around the cobbled Oaxacan streets, we seek shade to nose through market stalls in its many indoor markets. A young girl, tasked with mopping the cool concrete floors, stops momentarily in front of one of the entrances.