Getty Museum

[Tomb Ornament]/[Adorno de Tumba]

Creator

Mexican Photographer · 1902–2002

ArtistAuthor

A self-taught photographer, Manuel Alvarez Bravo purchased his first camera at age twenty while working at a government job. His earliest success at photography came around 1925, when he won first prize in a local photographic competition in Oaxaca. He returned to Mexico City, where he had been born, and in 1927 met Tina Modotti, who introduced him to a lively intellectual and cultural environment

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Date: 1971
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Culture: Mexican
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

In contrast to the withered brush at the foot of this cross, festive paper flowers and ribbons adorn the top of this grave marker. Manuel Alvarez Bravo photographed this scene from a low vantage point to illustrate the multiple layers of crosses at work. According to Mexican culture, life and death, intertwined with the idea of rebirth, represent stages of a cosmic process that repeats itself incessantly. Death, therefore, becomes an intricate part of everyday life. Perhaps these decorations were left over from the rituals of *Día de los Muertos*, the Day of the Dead, when people visit the cemetery to honor their deceased relatives.

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