This portfolio is one of the most potent and impressive collections of fine photogravure ever produced. Strand's photographs, taken during an extended stay in Mexico in 1932, sensitively depict the country's streets, architecture, religious statuary and inhabitants. Such post-revolutionary subjects also appeared in the work of contemporaneous Mexican painters such as Diego Rivera.

The photogravures in Photographs of Mexico were printed by The New York Photogravure and Color Company of NYC in an edition of 250 copies. A heavy Damar varnish was applied over the images, which in most cases has since darkened. In 1967, Strand reissued the work as The Mexican Portfolio, in a larger edition printed by Andersen Lamb Company, of Brooklyn, and with a varnish that has not yellowed. Both editions were printed by the most skilled gravure pressmen of the time, producing flawless photogravures that are rich and extremely detailed.