The Mexican Portfolio: An American Photographer South of the Border by Paul Strand

Signed Limited Edition, 1967, 132 of 1000

Signed and Numbered by Paul Strand

Exceptional Condition

This is the second edition of Paul Strand’s classic 1940 classic work, “Mexican Portfolio: An American Photographer South of the Border” featuring 20 spectacular hand pulled photogravures that were produced under the direct supervision of Paul Strand from the original plates and published by Da Capo Press, New York in 1967. The noted art critic Lennie Bennett provides the best overview of the significance of this work, “The 20 images of “The Mexican Portfolio” are unrelievedly somber. The mournful visages worn by statues of Madonnas and Christs are reflected in the noble, weary faces of Mexican peasants. No one, it seems, could smile. The overcast skies above them and the hard stone walls against which they lean reinforce the sense of stoic destitution. Arid landscapes with simple adobes are quiet, lifeless. In a sense, they are progenitors of the photojournalism practiced and perfected by Margaret Bourke-White, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, who combined social commentary with unsentimental images. The difference is that Strand, perhaps more like Aaron Siskind, considered himself an artist rather than a reporter. The details are powerful visual adjectives attached to strong compositional elements. In two photographs of solitary young boys, their old eyes look out from unlined faces. One rests his chin wearily in his hand. The fresh pressing of their white shirts cannot hide a pervasive grime no amount of soap could wash out. A young woman with a model's cheekbones wears a woven skirt dotted with small tears and holes. The women in these photographs, wrapped in shawls and usually carrying a baby or a basket, generally look away from the photographer. The men have uncompromising stares. They all may live hardscrabble lives, but they ask for no pity, and Strand doesn't patronize them or ask that we do. His inclusion of religious icons, which could have been an ironic trope, instead underscores the emotional complexity of lives that superficially could not be simpler.  The "Mexican Portfolio," 70 years old, seems like a painfully telling mirror that reflects our contemporary predilections.”

Measuring 16” x 12.5”, the portfolio consists of 5 leaves of text plus 20 hand pulled photogravures that are laid into a paper folder which then slides into a clothbound clamshell box which then fits into a printed slipcase. The portfolio is in exceptional condition. Each of the 20 images is in FINE condition. There are no marks, foxing, folds, tears or other condition issues. The outer slipcase has very minor wear and the linen cover has some slight discoloration. The original paperwork is in tact and in FINE condition. It includes a title page and 5 leaves of text: the dedication and edition page, 3 pages of text by Leo Hurwitz, Strand's text and signature in ink, the numbered titles of each image, and an homage statement by David Alfaro Siqueiros.

The portfolio is signed and numbered (132 of 1000) by Paul Strand in blue ink on the last leaf of text. This is a wonderful opportunity to obtain one of the seminal works in photography rarely found intact and in such wonderful condition.

Photographs of the outer slipcase, the clothbound clamshell box, paper folder, title page, signature page, 10 of the 20 images contained in the portfolio, as well as a composite photo of all 20 images appear below. Please note that although the images appear compressed you can click on any of the images to view that individual image or to view all of the photographs as a slideshow.