Tina Modotti: Photographer and Revolutionary by Margaret Hooks

Description

The life and work of Italian-born photographer Tina Modotti is magnificently portrayed in this generously illustrated volume by expert Margaret Hooks. It is a detailed study of an extraordinary life, from her early years in Italy to her time as a Hollywood actress, her first steps as a photographer with Edward Weston, her stay in Mexico with Diego Rivera and her twenty years as an active communist in Mexico, Spain and Moscow, during which she risked her life to carry funds to political prisoners in Romania and endured deadly bombings in Madrid and Barcelona. 'Modotti's famous portraits of celebrities and common people, her journalistic photography depicting poverty and political turmoil and her abstract compositions of flowers and objects are all included in this superb book. Tina Modotti (Italy, 1896 - Mexico, 1942), although often overshadowed by her lovers Edward Weston and Diego Rivera, is undoubtedly one of the most important women photographers of the twentieth century. She is considered a pioneer of critical photojournalism in Mexico as her work reflected her commitment to the underprivileged and their social struggle. Some of her photographs have reached record-setting prices in auctions Illustrated throughout

MARGARET HOOKS is an Irish writer based in Spain who has written extensively on the life and work of artists and photographers among them Tina Modotti, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington Edward Weston and Edward James. Tina Modotti: Photographer & Revolutionary was nominated for the prestigious Infinity Award and received a Krazna-Krausz prize for books on photographers and is available in eight languages. Her other books include Frida Kahlo: Portrait of an Icon, Surreal Eden: Edward James & Las Pozas, Tina Modotti: 55 photographs and her articles, essays and reviews have appeared in ARTnews, BOMB magazine, Afterimage, Vogue, Aperture, The Guardian, The Observer Magazine, Cultural Survival, Gatopardo, Luna Cornea and other publications. Her latest book Surreal Lovers will be published in April 2017Hooks has written on the creative collaborations of Roberto Bolano & A.G. Porta, Salvador Dali & Edward James and Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst. Her published translations include the Roberto Bolano-A.G. Porta short story "Bar Diary" (2015) and the autobiography of the psychoanalyst and feminist Marie Langer: From Vienna to Managua.

Bringing Ms. Modotti out from Mr. Weston's shadow, Ms. Hooks detailed her life as an artist, activist and woman at the height of Mexican muralism, where Bohemia met political revolution through a whirlwind of artistic expression.--Maurice Berger "The New York Times Lens Blog"