In 1932, Strand was invited by Carlos Chavez, director of the Fine Arts Department of the Secretariat of Public Education, to document the changing landscape and people of Mexico. During the two years Strand spent in Mexico, he traveled the countryside with his Korona and Graflex large format cameras. He explored small towns, churches, religious icons, and the people who inhabited the land. Strand, like many of the artists who were making art at the Taller de Gráfica Popular print studio, worked on this project during the period when the post-revolution government sought to establish a modern national culture that would capture Mexico’s unique character.

[metaslider id=345] All images ©Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive Organized by the Syracuse University Art Galleries

Twenty images were selected by Strand and published as a portfolio in 1940, titled Photographs of Mexico. In 1967, the portfolio was re-released as the Mexican Portfolio, featuring photogravure impressions.  This exhibition is organized by the Syracuse University Art Galleries. The exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery will also include a portfolio of 12 lithographs by Mexican artists of Taller de Gráfica Popular. Also included are 9 photographs by Mexican Modernist photographer Manuel Álverez Bravo, lent from the University Art Collection.