Manuel Álvarez Bravo

Several years before moving to Madrid, I lived in Mexico City, my first love, a sprawling mess of art, beauty and life.  So there was no way I was going to miss Fundación Mapfre's retrospective of Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexico and Latin America's most celebrated artistic photographer.



Although it's a bit of a trek up to the exhibition hall, bizarrely located in a shopping centre next to Real Madrid's Estadio Bernabeu, it's worth the journey.

As he lived to be one hundred (1902 - 2002), Álvarez Bravo's photographs span almost the entire twentieth century.  The exhibition groups his work loosely around themes and time periods: from black and white Mexico City street scenes of 1930s to 1950s, through startingly intimate colour portraits of the 1960s, to thoughtful black and white landscapes of the end of the century.

La hija de los danzantes, 1933 (The Daughter of the Dancers)
       Colección Colette Urbajtel / Archivo Manuel Álvarez Bravo, S.C.     

His shots are thoughtfully constructed and full of humanity, a reminder of how strong a simple moment can be when captured on film.  My favourite scenes are his early black and white street pictures, capturing the transformations after the 1910 revolution as Mexico struggled with its identity and the transition to a progressive urban culture.

Obrero en huelga, asesinado, 1934 (Striking Worker, Assasinated)
       Colección Colette Urbajtel / Archivo Manuel Álvarez Bravo, S.C.

Above all, Álvarez Bravo captures the richness of Mexican culture without resorting to stereotype or the political surrealism of some of his contemporaries.  There isn't a sombrero in sight.


Until 19 May 2013
www.fundacionmapfre.org/fundacion/es_es/cultura-historia/exposiciones
www.manuelalvarezbravo.org