Deutsch
English
About the Mexican photographer, Manuel Álvarez BRAVO (1902-2002)
Manuel Álvarez BRAVO is considered a pioneer of artistic photography in Mexico and the main representative of Latin American photography in the 20th century. He was born in Mexico City. Both his grandfather and father were amateur photographers. This gave him early exposure to his later profession, which he grew into through self-study and experimentation with various techniques. In his ethics as a photographer, he was influenced above all by his role model, the German-Mexican photographer Hugo BREHME. During his studies at the Academia de San Carlos, Manuel Álvarez BRAVO was engaged in cubism and abstract painting, as well as documentary photography. In 1930 he took over the work of Tina MODOTTI at the magazine Mexican Folkways. He also worked for Diego RIVERA, José Clemente OROZCO and David Alfaro SIQUEIROS. In 1931, MoMA in New York acquired some of his works. In the same year he won the first prize in a competition. In 1935 Manuel Álvarez BRAVO exhibited together with Henri CARTIER-BRESSON. His most important works are socially critical photo series with clear formal language. But also free representations of figures, which often offer symbolic-fantastic echoes. Historical and ethnic aspects played a major role in his art. In 1984 he was honored with the Hasselblad Award. After a successful life of one hundred years, Manuel Álvarez BRAVO died on October 19, 2002.
Photo books by and with works by Manuel Álvarez BRAVO
'Cien años, cien días' (2002); 'Documentary and Anti-Graphic Photographs' (2005, with Henri CARTIER-BRESSON & Walker EVANS); 'Photopoetry' (2008, German & English); 'Double Elephant' (2015, with Walker EVANS, Lee FRIEDLANDER and Gary WINOGRAND)