Yank and Police Marionette

An actress turned photographer, Tina Modotti is best known for capturing Mexican modernity through urban landscapes, bohemian scenes, and political themes. She moved to Mexico in 1923 with her partner and teacher, modernist photographer Edward Weston. There, Modotti found herself at the center of the Mexican art milieu, counting Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera among her friends and colleagues. She also became increasingly politically active, joining the Mexican Communist Party in 1927, becoming romantically involved with several political radicals, and imbuing her photographs with political charge.
In 1929, Modotti began a series of photographs featuring the puppets of Luis Bunin, one of Diego Rivera’s apprentices. Both Bunin and Modotti were aware that the puppet stage could be used to convey social and political messages, as his marionettes were both symbols of Mexican folklore and a traditional device of political commentary. This photograph portrays two characters from Bunin’s rendition of Eugene O’Neill’s play The Hairy Ape (1921): Yank, the main character, described as a Neanderthal-like worker, and a policeman. The shadows from the marionette strings create prisonlike bars across the background, making a strong statement about power and oppression.