In the 1950s a large number of immigrants from the United States, Canada and Europe discovered a secret paradise in which excess, the good life and art were available at a very low price. Recently named "the best city in the world", this Mexican town is now known for its elegant spas, cafés, galleries and colourful houses, which make it one of the country's most developed tourist destinations, yet it conceals beneath the surface a past that few remember or would believe possible. The series brings together original photographs recently taken by the author and a collection of archival family-album pictures gathered from the foreign community of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, between 1950 and 1980.