Manuel Álvarez Bravo

Manuel Álvarez Bravo was one of Mexico’s most renowned photographers of the twentieth century. Working during the post-revolutionary (1910-21) creative heyday when artists were drawn to Mexico from across the world, Bravo became friends with Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Andre Breton and Henri Cartier-Bresson.  His peers included Mexican cultural icons Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo, and José Clemente Orozco.

Bravo developed a unique visual language by combining modernism’s aesthetic with the indigenous origins of Mexico. He often represented his country as a symbolic landscape and connected Mexico’s indigenous and colonial past with his modern present.  Many of his photographs capture Bravo’s interest in everyday objects and ordinary situations.

This selection of works encompasses photographs from 1920-1977 offering a glimpse of Bravo’s career over this fifty year period. Bravo never offered interpretations of his work rather he encouraged viewers to ask his photographs what the works mean.