"The invisible is always contained and present in a work of art which recreates it. If the invisible cannot be seen in it, then the work of art does not exist."
- Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Manuel Alvarez Bravo's name is synonymous with photography in Mexico, both as its most accomplished and renowned master photographer and promoter of the medium, curating and mentoring a generation of younger Mexican photographers.
His lyrical black-and-white images, often grounded in traditional Mexican life, are exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. At 98 years of age, Alvarez Bravo continues to work and live in his native Mexico City, where he has spent most of his life.
"I don't search for the encounter. In reality, art is like that. We don't seek but we find." Alvarez Bravo is a defiant non-intellectual. He proudly casts himself among those
who
work intensely at their craft without overlaying artistic theories. He was
greatly affected by a childhood spent during Mexico's revolution in an atmosphere
of political rhetoric. His education was cut short; by the time he was 14,
he was employed by the Treasury Department where he worked for the next
15 years. During that time he studied accounting, painting, music and literature.In 1924, he bought his first camera and began to emulate Hugo Brehme, Garduno, Eugene Atget and Jose Guadalupe Posada. Atget's images taught him to "see and relate to daily life," Posada to perceive rituals and fiestas more deeply, Brehme was his tutor and himself a follower of Guillermo Kahlo, Frieda Kahlo's father and a German pictorialist.
Alvarez Bravo's friend, Tina Modotti, asked him to send a portfolio to Edward Weston. It was Weston's favorable critique that was fundamental in Alvarez Bravo's decision to make photography his lifelong career. Modotti left Mexico in l930 and gave her 8 x l0" camera to Alvarez Bravo when he replaced her as staff photographer at Mexican Folkways Magazine.
Among the many threads he weaves into his work is surrealism. He says, "The invisible is always contained and present in a work of art which recreates it. If the invisible cannot be seen in it, then the work of art does not exist." This challenge is met in all of Alvarez Bravo's photographs, which have many influences; Western religious and Christian traditions, European art and the mythology of ancient Mexico. His photographs are imbued with symbols and hidden meanings.
Along with his own work in photography Alvarez Bravo established a foundation for publishing books on Mexican art, developed a permanent collection for the National Museum of Photography in Mexico and has been a mentor and friend to scores of younger, contemporary photographers and artists in Mexico.
His numerous one-man exhibitions have been seen in France, Russia, Brazil, Cuba, Spain, Israel and the United States. His photographs are housed in museum collections around the world. He is an acknowledged master in both gelatin silver and platinum prints.
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