Eyes to Fly with: Portraits, Self-Portraits, and Other Photographs

Graciela Iturbide finds strange creations through her photographic lens. She is able to document both people and events without manufacturing false perceptions, but she is also able to show us the darker aspects of the human and animal spirit in a way few other photographers achieve. This large, elegantly produced book is a fine survey of her portraits of subjects from Mexico and South America to India and North America, a handsome and varied group of self portraits, and photographic essays on cemeteries and other aspects of death as well as animals and expansive views of birds in flight. Iturbide studied with Manuel Alvarez Bravo in the late 1960s and his well-known influence is felt in her work. But this fine artist has found her language beyond Bravo and manages to take the raw realism of Bravo's images and transform them with the magic of the spirit world and the mystical elements that inform her photographs. Her images are all in brilliant black and white and for the most part are 'constructed' or posed. The gradations between dark and light add a sense of the surreal to her images, whether the subjects are friends of the artist, couples at weddings, burial sites, East LA Cholas, or her very strange images of women with iguana hats or of her own face inhabited by live snails or wings of dissected birds! An excellent feature of this book is the addition of Graciela Iturbide's comments on pages facing her photographs, and the book opens with an informative 'Conversation with Graciela' by Fabienne Bradu. This is a sophisticated portfolio of works by one of our contemporary gifted artists. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, April 08

Graciela Iturbide photographs the Zapotec women of Juchitan and the Mixtee goat butchers of Oaxaca: EYES TO FLY WITH includes a range of black and white images, from previously unpublished works to those she's famous for, and this provides an outstanding monograph of her achievements. Each full-page photo is accompanied by either a quote from her explaining the photo's inspiration or a title line and date, while an article about her and interview with her provide foundations for reference for newcomers. Art library holdings, especially those strong in contemporary photography, will find it a fine pick.