This catalogue, produced for Manuel Álvarez Bravo's 1945 exhibition at the Sociedad de Arte Moderno in Mexico, played a pivotal role in establishing him as one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century. It includes many of his most important images, those on which his enduring reputation is founded. Bravo's central theme unites the diverse selection of photographs: an exploration of what it means to be Mexican—physically, historically, psychologically, and spiritually. Through his adaptation of European modernist photography styles, from New Vision to Surrealism, Bravo creates a nuanced and profound reflection on the Mexican spirit. In doing so, he defined the trajectory of Mexican photography and shaped the future of Latin American photography as a whole.

Langston Hughes, an early admirer of Manuel Alvarez Bravo who owned several of his photographs, wrote that, 'in Bravo, the sun is a quiet veil making the shadows like velvet. The shadows are endlessly deep and full, holding more—and more there—and more. Whereas the sun in a Bravo photo almost always has a sense of humor, one cannot be sure about the shadows.'

First edition; 4to (278 x 222 mm, 11 x 8¾ in); black-and-white photographs printed in relief halftone, essays by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Diego Rivera, Xavier Villaurrutia, Gabriel Figueroa, biographical text, a timeline of the history of photography, and a list of the exhibited photographs, design by Gabriel Fernández Ledesma; pictorial wrappers printed in grey, black, and white, text in white and black, corners of final leaf trimmed, very minor toning, minor wear to extremities, a near-fine copy in uncommonly fresh wrappers; 96pp.

The Photobook: A History III, p98; The Latin American Photobook pp43-44.