Manuel Alvarez Bravo lived to the ripe old age of 100 (1902-2002). He was one of Mexico’s greatest photographers and certainly one of the great Masters of the 20th Century. Not as well known to the general public as some of his contemporaries like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand, Edward Weston or Ansel Adams, he was a major force in the photographic world.
He had several phases throughout his enormously successful career, focusing on architecture and nature, urban landscape, street scenes and surrealist images. A major area of interest was the female nude, an incredibly difficult subject to do properly. In my opinion Bravo did it right.
Nudes: The Blue Room is a small book, both in size and in the number of images it contains. There are less then forty, made over a period of almost sixty years from the 1930s to the 1990s. They are beautifully seen and printed. In fact, everything about this book is beautiful, from the creamy paper stock, to the warm tonality of the mat finished photographs. Even the orange brown linen cover has a small yet exquisite print pasted on to it.
I have but a few books that only focus on the female form and I don’t pull them out that often, but there is something special about this little jewel. Quite different than Edward Weston’s classic nudes, in some ways it is one of my favorites. Despite its singular subject matter, there is much that can be learned from studying its contents and this can be readily applied to black and white craft, lighting, and composition – no matter what the subject matter is.
This is a special book and the good news is that you can find it used for as little as twenty bucks! So for the price of burgers, fries and sodas for two, you can own this gem. My suggestion is you get it, then sit down in a comfortable chair and contemplate all that it has to offer.
Definitely an interesting study, thanks for sharing a look at the Zen Den yesterday!
Dave,
Great to see you the other day and I look forward to our photo outing next month. I really is an exquisite book and most inspiring. As we discussed, you can lean an awful lot from it about seeing, light and composition that can apply to all types of photography.
Best,
Michael
Bravo is\was not quite so unknown. ..he had a major retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before he died…certainly the equivalent of weston or adams…I have several prints of his printed by his wife Lola; who also was a great photographer. ..stunning to say the least and his nudes are certainly in a class of their own
Peter,
My feeling is that many people who enjoy photography at a certain level are not as familiar with Bravo as some of the others we hear about much more often. But perhaps I am wrong about that. The important thing is how great he is/was. I love this little book and you are right about his nudes being in a class of their own. You are very lucky to have those prints!! I can only imagine what they look like! For me I will be content having this book as a prized possession.
Best,
Michael
I just commented to you on APUG and enjoying your website… and just popped across to Amazon and bought myself a copy based on your review… thank you from the deep south of Tasmania, Australia
Geoffrey,
Thanks for checking out my site and for your kind words on APUG! I really think you will enjoy the book. It’s a real beauty!
Now that you’ve found me, don’t be a stranger!
Best,
Michael