There may be no better way of breaking down cultural and linguistic barriers than by putting a musical instrument in someone’s hands. Photographer Shaun Fenn surely found this to be true in his recent portrait series of mariachi musicians and dancers, which he shot over the course of a week traveling through Todos Santos, La Paz, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This was a personal project for Fenn, and one that ended up being an emotional antidote to a year of COVID-related strain. “You can’t sit and listen to mariachi and not be happy,” Fenn shares.