In 2010, Stefan Ruiz discovered a collection of Mexican crime photographs at La Lagunilla, the large thrift market in Mexico City. Over the following six months he returned repeatedly to the same seller, gradually acquiring more of the material. This collection became the basis of Mexican Crime Photographs from the archive of Stefan Ruiz.

Ruiz’s role in this publication is that of collector and editor, not the photographer who originally made the historical images. The available catalogue does not identify their individual makers. Keeping that distinction allows the book to be understood as an archival publication rather than a monograph of Ruiz’s own photographs.

GOST Books published the 187-page clothbound hardback in 2015. It includes an essay by Benjamin Smith. The book makes the collected material available in an edited volume, bringing together the photographs and a written contribution that provides context for readers.