Stefan Ruiz spent close to a decade, off and on, photographing the stars and the up-and-comers in Mexico’s biggest export to world culture – the Telenovela. A phenomenon within Mexico and beyond – notably among its immigrant communities in North America, it is also, surprisingly, an extraordinary implant in Russia and the Balkans. His photographs from this series are collected in Factory of Dreams to be released at Aperture tomorrow night.

At Aperture’s Spring Books press conference, I spoke with Stephan (whose work from Factory was selected for AI-27) about how he managed to photograph the stars of this fast-moving film institution while keeping his career as an editorial photographer on the rails. He said that once he became hooked on the industry’s behind-the-scenes world, he put the project in his calendar and never looked back. In recent interviews, Stefan spoke about the allure of Telenovela:

A poor beautiful woman is rescued by a wealthy prince. Before they can happily live together both protagonists have to go through many obstacles and deal with many evil people. The plot is known as the “Cinderella” story, and Telenovelas are the Latin American soap operas that endlessly apply this plot to a hugely successful form of entertainment.

Called The Factory of Dreams, no one produces more Telenovelas than Mexican’s Televisa studios. Telenovelas and its protagonists are a powerful vehicle to understand contemporary Latin American culture and its society. These fantasies of love, wealth and betrayal are one of Mexico’s largest exports, popular throughout Latin America but also in Africa, Asia, Europe and the USA.

It's very difficult to get access to Telenovela sets because they want to control their image. They film really fast and, unlike American soap operas, there is a clear beginning and end so they don't want outsiders to spoil it for their loyal viewers.

Former Televisa stars include Selma Hayek and Gael García Bernal. Rogelio Guerra who starred in Los Ricos También Lloran (The Rich Also Cry) – a show whose finale was watched by 70 percent of the population of Russia – once delivered the Russian New Year’s presidential address when Boris Yeltsin couldn’t make it. [More]

Book launch and opening reception, 7-10 pm: Stefan Ruiz | Factory of Dreams. Aperture Gallery and Bookstore, 547 West 27^th Street, 4^th Floor, NY, NY. RSVP required. Free. Above: Foro 9, Amarte es mi Pecado set, courtesy Stefan Ruiz.