Written By: Eliza Berman
In 1968, in advance of the Olympic Games which would take place that summer in Mexico City and draw many international travelers, LIFE dispatched photographer John Dominis to craft a portrait of Mexico. The photographs celebrated the country’s diverse ethnic makeup, its fiestas and its food, as well as its modernizing urban centers. The images were, for many of LIFE’s readers, a first intimate glimpse into life south of the border, and one that presented the richness of the country’s culture.
Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.
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A fiesta in Guanajuato.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Park dancers in Mexico City.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Plaza singers in Vera Cruz.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Morelia, Mexico, 1968.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Performers in Mexico.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Mexico, 1968.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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A mariachi band, Mexico.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Incense bearer in Chiapas.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Mexico, 1968.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Market, Mexico City.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Market children, San Miguel de Allende.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Lily seller, San Cristóbal de las Casas.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Fruit stand, Mexico City.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Hammock seller, Oaxaca.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Man with balloons, Mexico, 1968.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Pinwheel display, Mexico City.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Hatful of onions, Vera Cruz.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Chamula women participated in a bead and ribbon ceremony called cambio de mayordomo (changing office), Mexico, 1968.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Unloading fowl, Oaxaca.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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A woman shelled corn in wicker hampers at a local market.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Lunch on the Paseo de la Reforma.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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A couple in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.
John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images