PHOTOGRAPHY-MEXICO: Celebrating Alvarez Bravo’s 100-Year Lifetime

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, May 7 2002 (IPS) - The century-long life of Mexican photographer Manuel Alvarez Bravo, a living “surrealist poet” of the camera lens, is being celebrated in Mexico and around the world.

Museums and art galleries in Mexico, Spain, France and the Netherlands have organised exhibitions this year highlighting the work of Alvarez Bravo, the only Mexican artist of his style and era who is still living.

His “magical and lyrical” images elude facile interpretations, says Susan Kismeric, curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where the photographer was the focus of a 1997 exhibit.

Behind the apparent ingenuity of Alvarez Bravo’s photographs unfold multiple meanings and interpretations, which gives his work a “quasi surrealist” touch, said Kismeric.

The Mexican artist’s photographs, made without laboratory tricks or poses, capture moments of life and the surroundings, whether in closed or open settings, but always with a fine aesthetic and high contrast of light.

Alvarez Bravo maintained a frenetic level of artistic activity from the 1920s to the 1970s, which translated into thousands of images. He then slowed down his pace to what he refers to as a more contemplative state.

“Don Manuel (Alvarez Bravo) has taught us to see, and has also made a powerful contribution to our aesthetic perception. He invites us to appreciate anew our surroundings and circumstances, deepening the capacity to admire the real and the surreal,” says Mexican author Carlos Monsiváis.

The commemorative events marking Alvarez Bravo’s 100 years began Feb 4, on his birthday, in Mexico, where the local arts community celebrated the day with him.

The date also launched the first of numerous expositions of his works, conferences and ceremonies in his honour. Events are planned through next year in various parts of the world.

The Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City opened a permanent exhibit of Alvarez Bravo’s photos, which is one of the most-visited galleries of the museum, according to the institution’s directors.

The series of exhibits under way in galleries in the capital and throughout the country will culminate in November when noted photographers from Mexico and abroad will gather for an international colloquium about the century-old artist’s oeuvre.

One of the expositions that will remain in place until early 2003 can be found at the Mexico City international airport.

Meanwhile, museums in Barcelona, Paris and Rotterdam are also celebrating Alvaro Bravo’s long artistic career.

The photographer, who describes himself as a timid man, says he is surprised by all the tributes and words of congratulations and admiration he is receiving.

As far as what critics and experts have to say about his photographs, Alvarez Bravo stated, “I don’t have any idea about the commentaries, besides, the critics see many more things than I do.”

“Alvarez Bravo approaches the world in a fantastic way. His ability to reconcile opposing tendencies is surprising, like the documentarist urge to portray life just as it is, but with a poetic sensibility that is almost surreal,” said Claudia Yuskoff, expert from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Jean-Luc Monterroso, director of the European Gallery of Photography, commented that “a photographer generally has a creative period of 10 years, and after that only repeats himself. But Alvarez Bravo never repeats his works.”

Alvarez Bravo says, “I am someone who found his path in photography. Since I was a boy, I have always read, seen art, many paintings, and of course I listen to a great deal of music. All of this fed me and is translated into my photographs.”

Curator Kismeric said that if she had to describe the oeuvre of Alvarez Bravo in one word it would undoubtedly be “honesty – there are no tricks.”

Some of Alvarez Bravo’s photos can be seen at the New York Museum of Modern Art’s web site: http//www.moma.org-exhibitions-alvarezbravo-photos.html (IPS is not responsible for the contents of the web site.)