I was under the assumption that Manuel Bravo used an 8x10 camera. The only camera I see mentioned in the MOMA book on Bravo is the roll film Plaubel 120 camera. There is mention of using a Graflex sometimes, but nothing larger. Did he use 8x10 during his photographic career? Joel Brown

-- Joel Brown (cambrow@earthlink.net), February 11, 2002

Answers

Joel,

After a brief search I found the following: Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Photographs and Memories, essay by Frederick Kaufman, Aperture 147, 1997, chronology at back: "1930 After Modotti's deportation from Mexico, [Bravo] assumes her position as photographer for the magazine Mexican Folkways (she also leaves him her 8x10 view camera)." Funny, but Susan Kismaric's "Chronology" in your MoMA volume under this same year makes no mention of the camera (pp. 224-225). From the images in the two volumes I see no obvious evidence of the camera, so to me at least it's not clear whether or how much Bravo actually used the 8x10. Nick.

-- Nick Jones (nfjones@stargate.net), February 11, 2002.