mexico the revolution and beyond [Hardcover]

Pete Hamill (Author), Agustin Victor Casasola (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

Agustin Victor Casasola photographed everyone of consequence in Mexico at the time of the revolution, from Francisco (Pancho) Villa, Emiliano Zapata and the exiled Russian leader Leon Trotsky to artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. For this splendid collection of Casasola's work, the noted American author Pete Hamill has written a rich essay on the photographer and the Mexico he pictured so well.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Although not well known outside his native Mexico, Casasola (1874-1938) was one of the "early masters of photo-journalism," writes journalist and novelist Pete Hamill in his stirring and informative introduction to this unprecedented and invaluable collection of Casasola's powerful images of a country in violent transition. Little is known about Casasola himself--portrayed in one photograph hard at work in his darkroom with a pistol on his hip--except that he started out as a reporter, then, around 1900, switched from words to images just in time to masterfully document two cataclysmic events, the horrifically bloody Mexican Revolution and the world-altering Industrial Revolution. Casasola recorded it all, photographing rebel leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, federal troops, rebel soldiers and the soldaderas (courageous women who cared for and fought beside them), and the dead. Possessed of a preternatural sense of the telling moment, Casasola also captured scenes sharply emblematic of the dawn of modernity on the busy streets of postwar Mexico City. Bursting with richly toned, page-filling plates and illuminating commentary, this is a must-have volume for the crucial history Casasola so poignantly illustrates, his artistry, and his profound humanity. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"...an intimate look by a brilliant photographer at events we in the United States know little about." --THE Magazine

"'Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond' is a vital contribution to the already rich photographic history of Mexican society and makes us eyewitnesses to the turbulent events surrounding the (re)birth of a country." -- Steve Bennett --The San Antonio Express-News

"As the sombreros changed to fedoras and the horse gave way to electrified trolleys, the photographers -- not ignoring the new technologies themselves -- show us a real Mexico and a people struggling and adapting to the new." -- Terry England --The New Mexican

"Bursting with richly toned, page-filling plates and illuminating commentary, this is a must-have volume for the crucial history Casasola so poignantly illustrates, his artistry, and his profound humanity." -- Donna Seaman --Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931788227
• ISBN-13: 978-1931788229
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 9.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Window into Mexico's Past, December 5, 2005

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: mexico the revolution and beyond (Hardcover)

Mexico has a great history of producing world class photographers. Along with Hugo Brehme, Augustin Victor Casasola is one of the founders of that tradition. His photographs of the Mexican Revolution have passed into the realm of iconic. Casasola is so esteemed that the Mexican Government purchased all of his negatives and used them as the foundation of a National Photographic Archive.

In 1912, Augustin and his brother Miguel started the Casasola Photo Agency. They hired a number of photographers around the country to take pictures of the great events of the day. Along with portraits of the important people of the time, there are many beautiful photographs of revolutionary soldiers, peasants, urban workers and criminals. A quarter of books photographs are of the Revolution. The rest show Mexico as it was entering into the Modern Age. I especially loved his photographs of Mexico's Jazz Age.

This is a high quality publication produced by Aperture. It is hardback book and is 13" by 9.5" in dimension with 155 photographs. All the photographs were made with large format cameras and in turn the photographs are very clear and detailed. This is a great book for both photobook collectors and people interested in the history of Mexico. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful photos, August 3, 2005

By 

L. R. Unger (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: mexico the revolution and beyond (Hardcover)

We saw this exhibit at the Museo del Bario in New York City and the photos are wonderful. Many were taken 90 years ago yet they are in beautiful condition and give a wonderful sense of history. The book does complete justice to the photos. Terrific size and detail. It is better than I expected.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mexico : The Revolution and Beyond, August 22, 2005

By 

Adam Cohen (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: mexico the revolution and beyond (Hardcover)

A terrific introduction to the work of the relativly unknown [ outside of Mexico that is] photographer Augustin V. Casasola. Casasola ran a small commercial photographic studio in Mexico during the long turbulent years of the Mexican revolution. Although he generaly worked with various medium and large format cameras the work is often astonishingly modern, direct and immeadiate. Covering not only demonstrations, firing squads, battles and the rebel leader Emiliano Zapata, but also intimate portrayals of daily life; its all at a level to obliterate any distintion between photojournalism and 'art' photography. If only we had photographers like this covering todays news and events.