Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1902–2002, Mexican) was one of the most renowned Mexican artists of the twentieth century. His work not only became a significant part of but also expanded the canon of black-and-white photography. His oeuvre shares the visual vocabulary of the North American photographers included in Affinities and Outliers such as Edward Steichen and Elliott Erwitt. He was particularly influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico, but remained open to artistic influences from outside his country. Working alongside artists such as Frida Kahlo and José Clemente Orozco, Bravo’s portraiture and landscapes draw from pictorial, surreal, and documentary photography. Encompassing a wide breadth of subject matter, the artist’s series of fifteen black- and-white works exemplify Bravo’s ability to transcend culture, time, and place.
–Affinities and Outliers: Highlights from the University at Albany Fine Art Collections