A cover version of the Pretenders' 1983 single "Back on the Chain Gang", "Fotos y Recuerdos" was written by Chrissie Hynde with Spanish-language lyrics by Ricky Vela.

Lyrically, the song describes a lonely female protagonist who "kisses the photo of her [lover] each night before falling asleep."

was having a nervous breakdown after realizing he was running out of material to record for Selena's fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido (1994).

[1] The Amor Prohibido album was pressed for a release date of March 13, 1994, and was halted for distribution due to the copyrighting issues with "Fotos y Recuerdos".

[2] He further wrote how Vela "stripped some of the edge off of Hynde's text but retained the basic premise of ["Back on the Chain Gang"]"[2] Perone found A.B.

[7] Author and contributor to The New York Times, Joe Nick Patoski found the song to use the same melody of the Pretenders' new wave sound.

[12] Rebecca Thatcher of the Austin American-Statesman, found the lyrical content of "Fotos y Recuerdos" to be a "lilting ode to a lost love".

[13] Lyrically, the song describes a lonely female protagonist who "kisses the photo of her [lover] each night before falling asleep.

[3] The Monitor editor Jon LaFollette, wrote differently; calling the song a "simultaneous effort to celebrate multiculturalism" in a way to "grow her bank account".

[24] Zach Quintance, also from The Monitor, wrote how readers of the newspaper chose Selena's 1994 single "No Me Queda Más" and "Fotos y Recuerdos"; citing that "fans loved the feeling and musicianship in those two songs.

[30] "Fotos y Recuerdos" rose to number two on the Hot Latin Songs and Regional Mexican Airplay charts, trailing Grupo Bronco's "Que No Me Olvide" by 557 Nielsen points on February 18, 1995.

[40] After two consecutive weeks at number one, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was dethroned on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart by La Mafia's "Toma Mi Amor".

[41] After spending seven consecutive weeks atop the Hot Latin Songs chart, "Fotos y Recuerdos" was displaced by Mexican group Los Bukis' single "Te Amo Mamá".

[43] Billboard magazine began monitoring digital downloads of Latin songs beginning with the week ending January 23, 2010.

[44] "Fotos y Recuerdos" made its debut on the Latin Pop Digital Songs chart following the twentieth anniversary of the singer's death; positioned at number 19.

[46] Dominican salsa singer José Alberto "El Canario" covered the song for the tribute album Familia RMM Recordando a Selena (1996).

[51] Mexican pop singer Paulina Rubio performed and recorded "Fotos y Recuerdos" for the live televised tribute concert Selena ¡VIVE!