PHOTOGRAPHY-MEXICO: One Man’s Legacy Yet to Be Discovered

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Oct 29 2002 (IPS) - Manuel Alvarez Bravo, the best-known Mexican photographer on the international art scene, died Oct 19 at age 100, leaving a vast oeuvre, but also a surprise, as he was also among the world’s leading collectors of art photos and lithographs, which are just beginning to be catalogued.

Alvarez Bravo was the first Latin American photographer to exhibit his works at New York’s prestigious Museum of Modern Art, in 1931, and was a tireless collector of original photographs, many of which are one-of-a-kind productions.

Family members of the artist, who worked with images during 80 of his 100 years, say they are just getting started in organising his chaotic archives, and are considering donating the entire collection to the country of Mexico.

Cultural authorities in the Mexican government have already expressed their willingness to collaborate in the organising and cataloguing effort.

Meanwhile, the arts community is mourning the loss of Alvarez Bravo, who used his images to show Octavio Paz what poetry is, according to statements by the Nobel Laureate in Literature himself.

This photographer received numerous awards throughout his long life, including the Elías Soursky Prize in 1974, the National Arts Prize in 1975, the Hugo Efurth International Photography Award in 1991 and the Leica Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.

“The emergence of images never stops flowing. The mouths of the river say clouds; the mouths of humans say rivers. Reality always has another face, the face of every day, the one we never see, the other face of time. Manuel: lend me your stick-horse to ride to the other side of this side. Reality is more real in black and white,” wrote Paz.

Art critics from numerous countries agree that Alvarez Bravo is the greatest photographer to come out of Mexico and one of the world’s best.

His death came just as preparations were under way in Mexico, Spain and the Netherlands for various events and exhibitions to celebrate his century-long life.

He was born on Feb 4, 1902, and in February 2002, was honoured by fellow artists and dignitaries in a 100th birthday celebration at Mexico City’s Fine Arts Palace.

In Alvarez Bravo’s home, there are mountains of photo negatives and photographs printed using an array of techniques of his own invention, but there are also works by other artists who he met or prints that he simply acquired during his travels to other countries, say his relatives.

He has a photo archive in the making that could be one of the most important in the world, said art critic Alejandro Castellanos, who has visited the late artist’s home.

Alvarez Bravo’s photographs, made without any laboratory tricks or posed scenes, capture the moments of life and the landscape in closed or open planes, but always with a detailed aesthetic and high contrasts of light.

The Mexican artist maintained a frenetic level of activity from the 1920s to the 1970s, which translated into thousands of images. He then slowed down his pace to what he referred to as a more contemplative state.

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 curator wrote that the artist has “a sympathy for the working class, an air of mystery, a sense of the surreal, a preoccupation with death,” recognising him as “one of the foremost figures in the history of photography and one of the great Mexican artists of the 20th century.”

Alvarez Bravo, who described himself as a timid man, often said he was surprised by all the tributes and words of congratulations and admiration he received.

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

Photographers from throughout the communications media community attended his funeral and, amidst applause, they bid farewell to an artist who they see as one of the “fathers” of their art.

“‘Don Manuel’ was a pure photographer and an integral man without vanity, someone who never sold out,” commented photographer Paulina Lavista.

World famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said he felt “amputated” following the death of his “oldest friend”.

But the world will ultimately receive a wonderful surprise when the unpublished works of Alvarez Bravo come to light, and his collection of others’ photographs and lithographs are made public — a legacy of the artist that is yet to be discovered, noted Castellanos.

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.)