MANUEL ÁLVAREZ BRAVO

The Man from Papantla (Señor de Papantla) 1934, printed 1977. Manuel Alvarez Bravo

Afterimage by Elle Pérez:

The picture of Jose de Jesus took about a year to make. The image itself holds a reference to Señor de Papantla by Manuel Álvarez Bravo, one of my favorite artists. I had the luck of being able to study his prints when I wasteaching at the Williams College. As with the works of Peter Hujar and Roy DeCarava, so much happens in Bravo’s shadows. They contain so much information that is hard to re-photograph, and therefore it isimpossible to grasp the true sensitivity of his printing until you see the prints in person. The resulting effect of two-dimensional form holding a profound sense of depth and volume is something I think about frequently while photographing, and even more so while printing.

In Jose De Jesus (2018) and in Jose Gabriel (2017), the shadows are crucial. In the latter photograph, the shadows reveal his eyes when you come closer, making him appear to be looking at you. Jose De Jesus offers three modalities of shadow and light, each with its own depth, against a plain wall. Jose De Jesus happened to personally own the Bravo monograph we were using as reference; it was given to him by a friend. So he was familiar with and had a relationship to the specific photograph.

From the movement of our bodies, Objektiv #29. Meet Carmen Winant, Elle Pérez, and Lucas Blalock with Objektiv Press at Paris Photo — more information to follow soon.