A fragile life
By Robert de Gast

I’ve been spending time looking at some of the wonderful photographic books in the collection of the Biblioteca Pública. Why do painters spend so much time looking at books about Vermeer, or Goya, or Picasso? Why do photographers spend so little time looking at books about Henri Cartier-Bresson, or Walker Evans, or Diane Arbus? Do we think that the technological arts do not merit our attention?

I came across a number of books that merit a photographer’s attention. One of them is called Tina Modotti: A Fragile Life, by Mildred Constantine. This book is about a talented photographer named Assunta Adelaida Luigia Modotti, always known as “Tina.” Born in Italy in 1896, she immigrated with her father to at the age of 17. She landed a number of roles in silent movies in the early twenties because of her great beauty. In Hollywood she met Edward Weston, the acclaimed photographer who introduced “camera arts” into the fine arts. Weston, married with four children, became her mentor and lover. He taught her the basics of photography and in 1923 they moved to Mexico, where Modotti began to make her own photographs. They numbered Manuel Alvarez Bravo, D.H. Lawrence, Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco among their friends.

In 1926, Weston returned to the US while Tina remained in Mexico, becoming increasingly involved in political affairs, finally joining the Communist Party.

In 1930, the Mexican government expelled her. Without any valid visas, she traveled first to the Netherlands and on to Spain where she participated in the Civil War. She moved to Berlin for a short time and lived in the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1934. After 1931, she stopped making photographs. In 1939 she was allowed to return to Mexico, where she died of a heart attack three years later at age 46. Modotti was a vital spirit in one of the most creative periods in twentieth-century Mexico. She was a force in the life of a great photographer as well as a highly talented photographer in her own right.

Modotti’s work is in many collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, UNAM in Mexico City, the Mills College Art Gallery and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. In 1991, Modotti’s Roses, a platinum print made in 1925, brought US$165,000 at Sotheby’s which set a record for a photograph at auction.

In Mexico, a fine collection of Modotti’s pictures can be found in Pachuca, the state of Hidalgo, a three-hour drive from San Miguel. The town is not known as a tourist attraction but has one feature of great interest to photographers—Mexico’s superb Museo de la Fotografía— which has a splendid collection of photographs including of the great Mexican photographer, Casasola and photographic paraphernalia. Housed in a gorgeous sixteenth-century Franciscan convent in the center of town, it is located on Calle Casasola. It is open from 11am to 6 pm. Like every other museum in Mexico, it is closed on Mondays. And, this is weird— taking pictures is not allowed.

Plan to spend several hours in the Biblioteca’s photography section!

Robert de Gast is the author, most recently, of Behind the Doors of San Miguel. He offers short photography tutorials and workshops. He can be reached at 152-7396, or via email at robertdegast@hotmail.com.