Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1902–2002)

Histories of Photography typically limit their focus to North American and Western European photography. Artists from other geographic regions are usually ignored. The work of Manuel Alvarez Bravo is an example.

Bravo was a contemporary of Edward Weston, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand to name but a few. Although his work is scarcely known to the general public it was appreciated by the leading photographers of his time.

A. D. Colman nicely capture's Bravo's work in his introduction. "… there are many dialects at the disposal of the photographer; his/her choice thereof is also a choice audience." [he] uses photography as a probe, an incisive tool for uncovering the heart of a culture embodied in the individual people who form its base."

As with any volume of photography, I found the selections to be somewhat uneven in quality and particularly in interest. "Bicycles on Sunday" (page 21) and "Tree struck by lightning" (page 23) document the arid desert landscape. "Window to the choir" (page 39) and "Stretched light" (page 77) nicely illustrate the abstract beauty that can be found all around us if we but look. The harsh consequences of conflict are depicted graphically in "Striking worker, assassinated" (page 59) and symbolically in "The crouched ones" (page 15). The pensive pose of the young woman in "Daydreaming" (page 73) suggests that even in harsh times dreams of better times ahead provide inspiration.… (more)