Manuel Álvarez Bravo was born in Mexico City in 1902. He died there exactly a century later. Regarded as one of the central figures of 20th-century photography, Álvarez Bravo’s practice developed alongside the Mexican Revolution and within a dynamic circle that included Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Tina Modotti. A master of light and shadow, he captured the mythic in everyday Mexican life. Street scenes, still lifes, local flora, citizens resting or lost in thought—all have an air of mystery. The photographs in this exhibition are presented by the New York Life Gallery (founded in 2022 by the photographer Ethan James Green) in collaboration with Álvarez Bravo’s daughter Aurelia Álvarez Urbajtel, who runs the Casa y Archivo Manuel Álvarez Bravo, in Mexico City. Many have never been exhibited in the Americas, and several have never been shown anywhere. Printed by the artist himself and held by his estate ever since, it’s as if they bring human depth and warmth just when we need it most. —Jeanne Malle