Lola Álvarez Bravo (1903-1993) was behind some of Mexico’s most celebrated photographs and was a key figure in the post-revolutionary artistic revival of the early 20th century. She captured fellow artists and intellectuals as well as the indigenous and poor, whom she portrayed with a sense of compassion and social criticism.
Lola Álvarez Bravo (1903-1993) was behind some of Mexico’s most celebrated photographs and was a key figure in the post-revolutionary artistic revival of the early 20th century. She captured fellow artists and intellectuals as well as the indigenous and poor, whom she portrayed with a sense of compassion and social criticism.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Alesandra Tejeda. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about visionaries -- women who made profound contributions to the fields of photography, film, sculpture, and the performing arts. Many of these women were radical artists who pushed conceptual boundaries within and beyond the art world.
Today we’re talking about a visionary behind some of Mexico’s most celebrated photographs. She was a key figure in the post-revolutionary artistic revival of the early 20th century. She captured fellow artists and intellectuals as well as the indigenous and poor, whom she portrayed with a sense of compassion and social criticism.
Please welcome Lola Álvarez Bravo.
Lola was born Dolores Concepción Martínez de Anda on April 3rd, 1903 en Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco. She was born into a wealthy family and raised by her father. When she was young, they moved to the capital, Mexico City. Her father passed away when Lola was a teen and she moved in with relatives.
Lola enrolled in the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, the oldest senior high school system in Mexico. It was there, in 1922, that she met Frida Kahlo. Lola, Frida, and budding photographer, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, would help forge Mexico’s path into post-revolutionary cultural renaissance. Frida became one of Lola’s lifelong friends and photo subjects, and Manuel became her lover. They married in their early 20’s and moved to Oaxaca.
Manuel’s photography career was more established, and Lola assisted him with developing and printing his images. They shared equipment but Lola recalled Manuel’s impatience when she wanted to use the camera for her own photographs. After living and working in Oaxaca for a few years, the couple moved back to Mexico City for the birth of their only child, Manuel Álvarez Bravo Martínez.
In 1930 Lola received her first camera -- it was a gift from the photographer Tina Modotti, an Italian political expat who ran in the same bohemian circles.
In the early 1930s Lola covered her husband’s commission documenting the work of Mexican muralists, a job that trained her aesthetic eye. She documented industrializ ation and urban development, as well as the reality of the Mexican countryside. Lola was struck by the poverty of some of these areas, and took care to approach her subjects with respect and empathy.
James Oles, an art scholar focusing on Modern Mexican art, later told the New York Times that the compassion in Lola’s work is what distinguished it from her husband’s images. He said:
“Lola was maybe a little more natural. She was interested in more candid and less intrusive images. She was certainly more interested in people than things.”
Lola’s desire to forge her own path and style strained her marriage; Lola and Manuel separated in 1934, though they didn’t divorce until 1948. Lola kept his name and pursued her work.
Lola moved amongst people on cluttered streets, observing people at work, in the marketplace, or relaxing. She waited for opportunities to capture informal moments in carefully composed scenes.
Lola’s photographs are mostly in black and white. They evoke formality and are made up of strong composition, crisp details, and the play of light and shadow amidst Mexico’s landscapes. The images express a Mexican life and sensibility that place Lola among one of the renowned interpreters of Mexico during a period of change.
While on assignment, she would sometimes stumble upon an image that was just for her -- she captured it and later printed it for her personal collection. For Lola, photography was a way of supporting herself, but it was also, as she explained, “the life I found before me.”
In 1951 in Mexico City she opened a gallery, the Galería de Arte Contemporáneo, where she showcased the work of many of her friends. It was here that, in 1953, Frida Kahlo had her first and only solo exhibition before she died a year later. In addition to gallery curator, Lola had many roles throughout her artistic career: photojournalist, political artist, teacher, and professional portraitist, among others. Lola was also a pioneer in photomontage.
Though her work distinguishes her as one of Mexico’s most important visual artists, Lola was largely overshadowed by the work of her ex-husband, Manuel. Her own work wasn’t recognized until later in her life, in the 1980s
Toward the end of her life, Lola summarized the importance of her work: “If my photographs have any meaning, it’s that they stand for a Mexico that once existed.” She passed away in 1993, at the age of 90.
Much of Lola’s work is now held at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. And an archive was found in her apartment 14 years after her death that held much of her personal work.
The art scholar, James Oles, who was invited to see the collection, told the New York Times that it shed greater light on Lola’s important work. “There is this undercurrent of social critique. Whenever my students see those pictures, they are moved sometimes to the point of tears. I don’t think any of Manuel’s [...] photos move them to tears.”
All month, we’re honoring incredible, artistic visionaries.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
I’m proud to have curated this month’s theme, and hope you’re enjoying learning about some of the women who’ve taught me how to see the world.
Talk to you tomorrow!