Women of Santa Anna, Michoacan

Accession Number
1971/2.126.4

Title
Women of Santa Anna, Michoacan

Artist(s)
Paul Strand

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1933, printed 1967

Medium & Support
photogravure on paper

Dimensions
15 3/4 in x 12 3/8 in (40 cm x 31.4 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip C. Davis through the Friends of the Museum of Art

Subject matter
This photograph depicts four women standing in a doorway. Two women stand beneath the eaves, while two stand just outside. The woman on the far left stands in the entrance and seemingly looks into the camera. The woman to her right, also in the door frame, engages with the child in her arms. The woman just outside the frame looks straight ahead toward the camera and holds an unseen child beneath her patterned scarf. The woman on the far right turns away from the camera, and appears to be in conversation with the woman to her left. Each woman wears a long skirt, no shoes, and three wear heavy shawls on their heads. Strand used a prism lens to disguise his intentions when photographing his human subjects during his time in Mexico. In order to capture his images of people his lens directed the light at a right angle, while appearing to shoot from the front.

This photograph is from Paul Strand's The Mexican Portfolio published in 1967 by Paul Strand. The portfolio consists of a series of 20 images depicting Mexico's people, architecture, landscape, and churches. It was first published in 1940 under the name Photographs of Mexico, and reprinted under Strand's supervision in 1967 as The Mexican Portfolio.

Physical Description
This is a photograph of a group of women standing around a doorway. Four women stand, one holding an infant child, another holding a baby beneath her shawl.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
buildings
buildings (structures)
children (people by age group)
doorways
dresses (garments)
groups of people
infants
modern and contemporary art
shawl
shawls
standing
women (female humans)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved