The washerwomen
(Las Lavanderas)
(c. 1950)
Medium
gelatin silver photograph on cardboard
Measurements
18.9 × 22.3 cm (image and sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Bowness Family Fund for Photography, 2024
© Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona Foundation
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
Throughout her career, Lola Álvarez Bravo took several photographs of women washing their clothes at the waterfront. In this image, a large shadow from a nearby structure is cast over a group of women, children and dogs. The shadow appears to symbolise Mexico’s industrial growth and post-revolution transformation. Álvarez Bravo implemented modernist photography techniques such as high contrasts and extreme viewpoints to transform scenes of everyday labour into graphic compositions of dynamic angles and forms.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Mexico City, Mexico
Inscription
inscribed in pencil on support c.: Lola Alvarez Bravo
Accession Number
2024.607
Department
International Photography