Poetry of the CommonplaceA Selection of Latin American Photographs

October 16, 2007 through January 6, 2008

Above: Mariana Yampolsky (Mexican, b America 1925-2002), Petalos, 1980, Gelatin silver print, Museum Purchase with funds provided by an anonymous donor, 2001.019 © Mariana Yampolsky

Photographers can transform the everyday into meditative and compelling imagery. A number of Latin American photographers exemplify this mode of vision, as in the great 20th century Mexican photographer Manuel Alvarez Bravo. The exhibition begins with the work of Alvarez Bravo and continues with other Mexican photographers, notably Manuel Carillo, Mariana Yampolsky, and Graciela Iturbide. Also included are a spare, yet lyrical, triptych by the Cuban photographer Liset Castillo and an Alvarez Bravo portrait of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, a recent gift to the Museum. This exhibition highlights the burgeoning collection of work by Latin American photographers in the Museum of Fine Arts extensive photography collection, one of the finest in the Southeast.