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Obrero en huelga, asesinado (Striking Worker, Assassinated),

1934, printed 1974

Manuel Álvarez Bravo, 1902–2002; born Mexico City, Mexico; died Mexico City; active Mexico City
Published by Double Elephant Press
x1991-257.10
This arresting image shows a union leader moments after he was fatally shot during a sugar-mill labor strike in Mexico.Suggesting the fragility between life and death, the glint that appears to remain in his eye is in fact a reflection of light in a pool of blood at the eye’s corner. Bravo’s placement of the comma in the title of the work helps transform the image from a mere representation of death to that of a politically motivated murder.

Information

Title
Obrero en huelga, asesinado (Striking Worker, Assassinated)
Dates

1934, printed 1974

Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
18.8 × 24.5 cm (7 3/8 × 9 5/8 in.) mount: 37.5 x 50.3 cm (14 3/4 x 19 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Levine
Object Number
x1991-257.10
Place Made

North America, Mexico

Signatures
Signed in graphite, lower right: M. Alvarez Bravo.
Inscription
in graphite, lower left: 42/75 in graphite, verso, lower right: 13 [portfolio number]
Culture