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The Beautiful Work of Mexican Photographer Lola Alvarez Bravo

Unos suben y otros bajan, 1940

This past week, while doing research for a class I came across the brilliant, beautiful work of Mexican photographer Lola Alvarez Bravo (1907-1933); she was a prominent figure in the post-revolution Mexican renaissance alongside photographer ex-husband Manuel Alvarez Bravo and painters Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, Maria Izquierdo, etc. 

Frida Kahlo, Ciudad de México, México, 1950

Seeing her work for the first time as a fellow Mexican female photographer, I was left inspired and impacted by what she seemingly achieved in her career. Her work is rich in B&W tones because of her use of natural light and shadows, and her high understanding of composition is heavily seen throughout her work. She often shot portraits of fellow artists and intellectuals as well as among the indigenous and poor, whom she successfully portrayed with a sense of compassion and respect as well as aspects of social criticism.

Niño Bizantino, Acapulco, Guerrero, México, 1950 

Her work will be great to admire and study as I work on determining the narrative I want to tell in each one of my photos and thinking about what I should and shouldn’t include in the frame as I actively shoot.

Annette Palacios - Imagemakers

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Masseria Moroseta, Italy 

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The range of Harry Benson

I have vivid memories of being 8 or 9 and traveling into the city on one hot summer day. Though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, I was headed to one of the most exclusive events taking place in the city that day: a book release party for world renowned photographer Harry Benson. 

These kind of events of course aren’t typical for my family. However, it just so happens that Benson is a second cousin to my Dad and we somehow managed to be invited. Back then, I was not that interested into photography and remember finding the crowded event overwhelming, but looking back today, I wish I could go back in time. 

In short, through his career in photography, Benson has received dozens of photography awards, authored multiple books, appeared in 40 solo gallery exhibitions, been honored by Queen Elizabeth II, and so much more.

Benson is most famously known for his portraits of the Beatles in 1964. However, Benson did much more than Beatles or just celebrity photography for magazine covers. In fact, it’s how much range his photography has that keeps me inspired by him

The Pillow Fight, 1964

In fact, Benson’s photojournalism collection is some of his most impressive work. Spanning over decades, his photographs includes everything from black and white film pictures from the civil rights era all the way to color and digital photos of recent America.

His photography is so diverse that its hard not to be impressed and wondering how one person could possibly have taken all these photos himself. While most photographers find their specific niche in technique and subject, Benson constantly switches it up. 

Although I only met him the one time back in 2012 and our family ties are pretty distant, I feel lucky to say I have any connection to a photographer as talented as him. He reminds me to continue to experiment and step out of what is easy in order to create pictures that are new and exciting. 

--Eliza Barr, Imagemakers 2020

https://harrybenson.com/

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Casual Degradation

Shot on color film and printed using Bertha (rest in power <3), this project was created to highlight that forms of casual degradation, specifically microaggressions, are just as impactful as more overt or violent acts of discrimination. You can read my full artist statement using this link. This is a project I am proud of and a topic I feel should be discussed more often. While people have many important and courageous conversations relating biases and prejudice, restorative conversations about more subtle acts of discrimination are often ignored and not considered as pressing. Casual Degradation was my final project for my Spring 2019 Color 1 class; It now lives in a folder in the back of my closet. What should I do with it? 

Emma Rehac - Imagemakers Wednesday Class

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Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now

This summer I went to the Guggenheim to see Robert Mapplethrope’s show Implicit Tensions. This exhibit focuses on work done by both Mapplethrope and many other artists who explore identity through portraiture. Majority of the photographs in this exhibit are from Mapplethrope’s “The Black Book”, which was a series of photographs nude black men. These images stirred great controversy from writers, philosophers, activists etc. all with mixed responses. Some of appreciation, some of outrage and some of embarrassment.  

This exhibit presents the photos, pared with quotes about race, sex and masculinity. Having this work paired with this writing creates a deeper cultural discussion about these taboo topics and the power artists have when creating work. I was moved by many of the images in this exhibit and they inspired me to want to explore portraiture which is something I haven’t really done. It also inspired me to explore pairing images with writing which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Finally it reinforced the idea that photography can be a great vehicle for starting social discussion. 

Justine Tapert, Tuesday class

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Lisa Eisner

One of my favorite photographers is Lisa Eisner. Lisa Eisner tends to take a documentarian stance on her photography. Eisner was inspired by her childhood in Wyoming in one of her greatest books, Rodeo Girl. In Rodeo Girl Eisner tried to capture her childhood memories of going to rodeo beauty pageants. I’m inspired by her work because in my photography I aim to capture feeling and emotion in portraits like Eisner is able to. 

-Kayetan McEnerney (Jaime Tuesday)

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@subwayhands

Instagram isn’t usually a place where I find photographers that I like or inspire me. That changed during a night of insomnia when I stumbled across the subwayhands page, created and run by Hannah La Follette Ryan. Instantly, I felt hyper awake and excited, scrolling through the beautiful mash-ups of portraiture and street photography. Ryan manages to take the details of frustrating everyday travel- impatient, fidgeting, germaphobe hands and magnifies them into insightful masterpieces on the people all around us. She shoots inconspicuously with her Iphone camera while commuting to work in the city, on multiple subway lines, so there is always variety in the personalities displayed on the page. Ryan started the page in 2014, shortly after moving to the city, inspired by a photo of Georgia O’Keeffe’s hands and observing the energy in the travel around her. I love the way each photo feels so intimate without seeing a face or knowing anything about the person at all, except for the way they carry their hands.

-Lena Likhtina, Tuesday Imagemakers Class

Photos by Hannah La Follette Ryan a.k.a. subwayhands https://www.instagram.com/subwayhands/?hl=en

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Lauren Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield is a current American documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles but photographs around the world. Greenfield uses photography to see the world in an anthropological way. She studied visual and environmental studies in university and her life’s work explores our current culture as a money, sex, drug and greed based society. She is well known for documenting American youth culture in the late twentieth century and early two thousands. Some of her projects that really inspire me are her documentary Generation Wealth and her book Girl Culture. I really admire the intensity of her photos and how without much text they tell such a loud story.

Jill Noorily, Imagemakers

Photos by Lauren Greenfield