Untitled [Woman, Ixmiquilpan, Mexico]

Best known for championing “pure photography,” or “straight photography,” Strand studied at New York’s Ethical Culture School, where he was introduced to photography by social reform photographer Lewis Hine. Strand’s practice varied from street photography to close-up plant studies, and in the 1930s, he found inspiration in Mexico. He traveled to Mexico in 1932, at the invitation of eminent Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chavez. Strand photographed there until 1934, involving himself with Mexican art, society, and revolutionary politics. Together, Strand’s Mexico photographs are evidence of his foundational idea of the “collective portrait,” a portrait of a region made up of photographs of individuals, religious subjects, architecture, and still lifes.