Manuel Alvarez Bravo was a self-taught Mexican photographer born in 1902 in Mexico City. He purchased his first camera at age 20 and found early success winning a photography competition in Oaxaca in 1925. He returned to Mexico City where he met Tina Modotti in 1927, who introduced him to an artistic community including Edward Weston, who encouraged Alvarez Bravo to continue photographing and praised his work. Alvarez Bravo's primary subjects included nudes, folk art, burial rituals and decorations.