This rotation showcases works of 20th- and 21st-century Mexican photography. Following the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), photographers in Mexico made important contributions to the advancement of the medium as an artistic practice and a tool for social justice. Featured in the selection are works by Manuel Álvarez Bravo—often considered the originator of modern Mexican photography—as well as photographers he mentored, including Graciela Iturbide and Flor Garduño.

Several artists in the installation explore the relationship between people and their environment, as in Marcela Taboada’s series Mujeres de arcilla (Women of Clay). Others pose questions about an artist’s relationship with and access to the communities in which they work. Ángeles Torrejón, for instance, was granted special permission by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation to document its female soldiers. Many of the images on display were made by women, illustrating the crucial role they have played within the broader context of Latin American photography.

Mexican Photography from the Gallery’s Collection is on view in the James E. Duffy Gallery on the museum’s fourth floor through mid-November.