22. Manuel Alvarez Bravo
7 things he taught me about photography
One of my mentors believes there has only been two prodigies in the history of photography: Francesca Woodman and Richard Avedon. I do agree with him but I also believe there is a third one and like both of us, he was from Mexico City: Manuel Alvarez Bravo.
“A photographer’s main instrument is his/her eyes. Strange as it may seem, many photographers choose to use the eyes of another photographer, past or present, instead of their own. Those photographers are blind.”
BE CURIOUS AND DEFINE YOUR SOURCES.
Alvarez Bravo had an insatiable curiosity for all the vanguardist movements of his time. His artisitc infliences came first from his family, his grandad was a painter. In his youth, his photography was influenced by the German and Russian Constructivism and the New Objectives movement. The most prominent work in the 1920s by Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Guillermo Kahlo (Frida’s dad) Pablo Picasso and Hugo Brehme shaped his style. In an interview Alvarez Bravo said “The first influnce in my point of view I owe it to Hugo Brehme. Picasso and his cubism presented a different kind of reality. Brehme taught me about the pictorial elements in a photograph. Picasso, the rarity, the unusal pictures”
Once he quit his job as a public servant to work as a freelance photographer he suddenly swicthed his styles from pictorialist to modernist mostly influenced by Edward Weston. His work then became heavily influenced by the European style of documentalists present across all media at the time. But what really shaped his personal style was when photographing the work of Mexican muralists in his own words: “this taught me to see”.
Later, once established as a more than capable photographer, Alvarez Bravo found the work of Eugene Atget who immediately became his main source of inspiration. The work that came from this influence had an impact on Paul Strand that he referred to Alvarez Bravo as the “Mexican Atget”. When asked about Atget’s influence, Alvarez Bravo said “He simply taught me to communicate everyday life through photographs”
I constantly remind my students and myself to immerse deep into the work of photographers and movements that resonate with us and our views of the world for inspiration and throw what we like the most into our own melting pot of influences to shape our own personal style.
BE THE ETERNAL AFICIONADO.
Alvarez Bravo was born to a humble family and remained a cool, huble character throughout his career. Despite all the recognition, awards, books and exhibitions, he never stopped calling himself an amateur. In most of his interviews he stated that he’s been an eternal aficionado to photography, he’s done it entirely out of pleasure and enjoyment.
The great photographers of the 20th century spoke highly of him and his work. He rubbed shoulders with Kudelka, Cartier-Bresson, Brehmer, Kertez… in 1929 after receiving a portfolio from Alvarez Bravo, Edward Weston said: “It’s a priviledge that photography has a point of view like his. Only in rare occasions has a group of photographs raised an interest in me”. Likewise, Andre Breton after meeting Alvarez Bravo and seeing his work said “Alvarez Bravo has elevated to what Boudelaire called the style of the eternal”.
If this didn’t change him, a few likes and comments from peers on Instagram shouldn’t change our character either.
“I never asked for an exhibition anywhere, life has taken me to this very path where I am today.”
KNOW HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH BACKS.
Personally, I don’t like photographing backs, be it on assignment or for personal projects and I don’t enjoy to look at the work of photographers who do this repetitively. In my eyes, it shows fear, a lack of confidence in your craft and a lack of empathy with your subjects. Technically, backs don’t say much in a photograph, there’s no punctum or a story to develop, this take away any connection we might be able to make with the subject either as a viewer or as a photographer.
Unless you’re Manue Alvarez Bravo of course and you know how to make backs tell a powerful and emotive story. And I emphasize the word make because he did, in fact, fabricated most of his images to create his own realities which leads to my next point.
CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN WORLDS.
Alvarez Bravo liked to construct his photographs either by building up scenes from from something he would find in nature or by finding a scene developing on the streets and giving it a title that describes what that reality is. I believe this comes directly from his fascination with the art movements of his time like cubism and surrealism. What I particularly like the most of his work is his poetic nature and his sense of humour very characteristic of our Mexican culture.
The titles of his images are just as important as the photographs, they give us an idea of what happened inside Alvarez Bravo’s mind.
Some of my street photographer friends don’t like the fact that he fabricated his scenes, so I encourage them to look at the Magnum Contact Sheets book to see how many of the photographers they idolize fabricated their most iconic photographs.
FORM & ARTISTRY.
Alvarez Bravo’s influences played an important part in developing his technical abilities but what formed his unique personal style is his love and genuine interest for classical music, architecture, art and poetry. He taught his students to appreciate the fine arts ansd immerse in their beauty.
I’m fascinated by the careful attention to how his photographs were framed and composed and by his keen interest in texture, light and shape and the relation between these three.
IGNORE LABELS, BE YOURSELF.
When asked about a series of surrealist photographs, Alvarez Bravo denied any relation to the surrealist movement. This is perhaps the most surrealist thing to do since a characteristic of the movement was to play with the viewers minds. My point is, Alvarez Bravo’s work comes entirely out of his interests. He had a huge empathy for the working class of Mexico and dedicated his life to document the social differences that emerged after the Revolution and he didn’t call it street photography. He loved the female body and photographed a great deal of portraits, though he never considered himself a portrait photographer. He fabricated his scenes creating new realities he didn’t consider himself an artist either.
Our times are different and social pressures force us to adopt all sorts of titles and labels but I like the idea of just being ourselves, photographers.
THE LANGUAGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Manuel Alvarez Bravo had the best quotes for every situation, sometimes harsh but always filled with truth. I find his words to be like the wise words from an old master who teaches me more about myself than my craft. I leave you with my favourite quote from Alvarez Bravo:
“If a photographer doesn’t have a suitcase full of experiences and knowledge of what’s happening in its own country, then the photographer wouldn’t have anything to express. Photography is a language and as such it has to communicate something. If a photographer has nothing to communicate, then what’s he or she photographing?.”
Sources and further reading:
Time Lightbox: https://time.com/3792450/revisiting-the-mastery-of-mexican-photographer-manuel-alvarez-bravo/
International Photography Hall of Fame: https://iphf.org/inductees/manuel-alvarez-bravo/
It’s one of the pleasures of Substack - fellow Substackers sharing the photographers that they admire and I know very little about. It’s filling important gaps in my photographic learning.
I have not heard of him before but great work. Thanks for sharing.