A visual road-trip through Mexico and the unstoppable human spirit.
Five years on the streets of Mexico & the object that tied it all together.
BY
RODRIGO GAYA VILLAR
PUBLISHER
CARRARA MEDIA
Long Beach, CA
300 Pages - Bilingual - Hardcover - Printed in Mexico
"A photobook for everyone."
Patrick Farrell
2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Breaking News Photography
THE PROJECT
5 YEARS ON THE ROAD
SINGLE 35MM LENS
FROM CITIES TO PUEBLO MAGICOS
Shot entirely on a simple Fujifilm mirror-less setup with a 35mm lens for quality and portability.
Exploring through the maze of highways city street, pueblos mágicos cobblestone historic centers, endless coastlines, and all the town roads in between.
Through daily street photography sessions both in Mexico City and Tepoztlan, and countless meetups, events and trips throughout Mexico
OVER 300 pages of documentary photography.
In this captivating photobook, one photographer spends five years exploring the streets of Mexico City and its surrounding mountain towns on the hunt for El Vocho — the Spanish term of endearment for the iconic Volkswagen Beetle.
Vochos, and the vocheros who preserve them, become the pathway for Rodrigo Gaya Villar to rediscover his ancestral home country.
THE JOURNEY
THE ADVENTURE
“The first time I photographed a Vocho it struck a chord in my heart. Right away, it reminded me of my mom. I realized I wasn’t discovering Vocho culture — it was already part of me.”
— Rodrigo Gaya Villar
THE CULTURE
The Vocho as Mexico’s mascot and cultural heartbeat.
Spontaneous portraits and stories of the people who keep these 60-year-old cars alive.
Themes of joy, friction, identity, and the bittersweet beauty of everyday Mexican life.
THE DESIGN
The photobook was designed and printed in Mexico. High-quality hardcover, 306 beautiful matte pages made of recycled paper.
Hecho en Mexico
ARTWORK AVAILABLE
From KDR Gallery in Miami, the only opportunity to own limited edition museum-quality prints. Contact the gallery directly:
Archival Fine-Art Print
Limited to 1/3 +2 AP
Hand Made / Made To Order
★★★★★
Address
790 NW 22nd Street, Miami, FL 33127
Email
Katia Rosenthal
Katia@kdr305.com
Phone
305.392.0416
Hours
Tuesday-Saturday 11-5pm
THE ART
TWO VERSIONS ONE HISTORY
STANDARD EDITION
$54.99
306 pages of stunning photography
Premium quality hardcover
Bilingual Spanish/English essays
Printed and designed in Mexico
Option: + Leen Customs vocho pin (+$15)
$124.99
Signed by author Rodrigo Gaya Villar
Exclusive protective slipcase
Limited Edition-only Leen Customs enamel pin
Only 500 copies produced worldwide
Available only at CarraraBooks.com
LIMITED EDITION
500 Copies
Victoria Scott
Author of We Deserve This
"Much more than an automotive photography book, Vochos Unidos is a beautifully affectionate portrait of both the Beetle and Mexico."
Patrick Farrell
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Breaking News Photography 2009
"Through the author’s creative, patient eye for composition and moment, the beloved Volkswagen Beetle chug-chugs into our hearts as a resilient, iconic symbol of Mexican pop culture and street life. Patched with ingenuity, painted in rebellion, parked in the middle of life, these vochos persevere as vessels of Mexican memory and mischief. Gaya Villar is a rare talent capable of merging the rawness of documentary photography with the art of portraiture. We are willing and enchanted passengers on his visual road trip through not only Mexico, but the unstoppable human spirit."
Larry Chen
Author of Life At Shutter Speed
"Gaya Villar seamlessly integrates each vehicle and tells a story with every photograph. It's not always about the car, which is what makes Vochos Unidos so warm and relatable."
Kevin McCauley
Author of Waiting for the Sun to Come Down
"Through a camera and his creative eye, Rodrigo Gaya Villar investigates Volkswagen Beetles from every imaginable perspective. In the process, he shows us joy, freedom, strife, and the pulse of megacity living. Across hundreds of beautiful photographs of this automotive icon, Vochos Unidos depicts humanity itself."
THE REVIEWS
Oliver Wang
Author of Cruising J-Town and Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach.
"Vochos Unidos is a dazzling, street‑level tour of Mexico’s towns and cities, with the country’s ubiquitous Volkswagen Bug at its center. Gaya Villar roams Mexico’s regions, spotting these vochos everywhere from the back alleys of Mexico City to the sandy shores of Oaxaca. The book is a visually poetic love letter to his homeland and its favorite, adopted child."
Vochos Unidos
Rodrigo Gaya Villar
Carrara Media
Hardcover
9.0 × 11.5 in
306
Spanish & English
979-8-9916226-9-1
978-1-9712710-0-2
April 27, 2026
100% made in Mexico
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© 2026 Rodrigo Gaya Villar / Gayaman Visual Studio, LLC
More Information at RodrigoGaya.com
All rights Reserved. All images copyright Rodrigo Gaya Villar.
