La Vanguardia Fotográfica Mexicana

A magnet for artists such as Cartier-Bresson, Paul Strand, and Tina Modotti, not to mention native son Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Mexico was a focal point of the remarkable international renovation of the art of photography which took place between the two world wars. An absolutely central figure of this avant-garde was Agustín Jiménez, a photographer whose life and work have until now been enveloped in obscurity. Or rather, have lapsed into obscurity, for in his time, Jiménez was a frequent presence in the pages of illustrated publications in Mexico and abroad (including a full page spread in the New York Times), and exhibited his work in New York and San Francisco. The present book, which recovers 367 photographs by Jiménez, includes an insightful text by Carlos Córdova which concentrates on the period from 1928 to 1938, years of intense debate and experimentation, which saw the creative maturity and artistic flowering of this unjustly neglected photographer.