Readers do not come to photography books for text, particularly with the title Frida Kahlo Her Photos. Turn page stop enjoy, turn, enjoy, turn...page after page, 401 photographs in all.
So many faces, places, and still lifes. Some instantly recognized, others sublimely anonymous. Editor Pablo Ortiz Monasterio has filled his six hundred pages amply with both. Mejor, Editorial RM ordered 130-gram Lumi Matt Art paper that holds detail superbly in the warm-toned grayscale and sepia reproductions.
Three preliminary essays set the context for the collection. When Diego Rivera died, he directed a friend to hold the material fifteen years. Instead, the thousands of fotos remained locked in a disused space at La Casa Azul for fifty years.
The collection amasses personal snapshots typical of any family album. As well, the collection includes signed work by such photographic luminaries as Man Ray, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti. Some images are signed by Kahlo, others most likely are her work but unsigned. Several defaced fotos display Kahlo's active involvement in images as tokens of enmity or other emotional connection.
There’s also a trove of historical images purchased by Rivera and Kahlo of European and Soviet history. The section essayist avers such artifacts inform a view of the collectors' interests and values. Maybe. That section could easily have waited for another volume, its pages instead taken with more family, friends and at-work subjects.
Ortiz divides the book in seven sections, each with a leading essay. The essays are helpful and adequately brief. Still, to consume and enjoy these images, no other knowledge required but eyes to see.
Nonetheless, historically aware readers will recognize Frida, Diego and numerous famous people. Famous people know famous people, and Diego and Frida were really famous so there's no dearth of famous faces to learn or acknowledge. Connecting faces with art, O'Gorman and Orozco, for example adds to the book's multiple pleasures.
The collection presents a significant number of bled-to-the-edge fotos and a few double truck pages reproducing exceptional frames. Descriptive text with fotos adds context, leading to numerous “So that’s what Mrs. Trotsky looked like!” moments. (326)
As mementoes, fotos act as a kind of prosthesis for memory, for example, a photograph of a drawing. Enhancing the point, facing that there's a foto of the artist, Miguel Covarrubias, and Kahlo.
Another image, signed by Kahlo, appears twice in the collection, a deluxe double truck on 202-203 and on 384-385 back and front. On a straw mat, a doll lies on its back, a toy horse kicks back its rear legs breaking loose from its carreta. The essayist suggests it a metaphor for the accident that put Kahlo in pain for the rest of her life, as well as a reminder that Kahlo’s pain occupies a central role in her art.
Ensuring against failed memory, many gente turn the print over and document the obverse. Delightfully, Ortiz photographs the backs, too. Lipstick imprints, autographs, dedications further contextualize the image, and if one can make out the cursive hand, read Kahlo’s thoughts on the subject for oneself.
Despite a photographer's best intentions, inevitably anonymity infects a memory. There’s the smiling woman on page 289, sprawled on a chaise, legs spread offering her crotch. She’s autographed her snapshot, “My normal position in life.” Perhaps a reader will have a “there’s bis-abuela!” moment and send in granma’s name. Per the publisher’s invitation, several subjects remain unidentified. Should you possess any information regarding these issues, please contact: info@editorialrm.com. That would prove delightful. An unidentified foto is a lot like Ozymandias, without the inscription.
Kahlo’s face has generated a large market for painters and other graphic artists. Frida Kahlo Her Photos comes with dozens of new images probably never seen heretofore. There’s Frida at two years old (left), the first plate in the book. Somewhat later, there's Frida circa 1952, which may be the most recent portrait in the collection. One troubling feature of the collection is the non-chronological layout within the generally organized sections. Then again, the lack of sequencing allows each image to stand on its own.
Obviously, this collection is a marvelous tribute to Frida Kahlo. Diego Rivera makes his de rigueur appearances here and there. But this is Frida's book. One three page sequence editorializes sin palabras their relationship:
A somber Kahlo looks into the lens on October 16, 1932, confronting anyone who will look into her eyes.
Turn the page. On the left, 298, there’s Diego, arms crossed, crinkled eyes and contented smile. He’s looking off the page to the right. On the right, 299, there’s a naked woman--Nieves Orozco--sitting on a straw mat in pura mujer profile, face obscured by an arm, her back to the contented Rivera's eyes.
La Casa Azul in Coyoacán was one of those places, the one time I visited Frida Kahlo’s home in el Defie, that forbids cameras on the grounds, check your lente at the door. And don’t think for a moment I don’t want my own fotos of the pad. I want that bookshelf with titles Frida and I both read. I want to memorialize those alcatrices in the garden. No, and no. No photography. That is irony.
On Thinking of Japan
by Devreaux Baker
I begin to pray
Even the birds will listen
The flower unfolds
Sometimes tears will fall
Even the moon falls sometimes
Trees let their leaves fall
Do not be worried
This morning I heard a lark
It made me grow calm
Ancestors call me
I hear their voices in wind
The world disappears
TSUNAMI
by Francisco X. Alarcón
the wings of the seas
weep so furiously inland—
tears mix with sea mist
water ignites fires—
buildings, orphan houses burn
out of shaking grief
waves carry this grief
to all the Pacific shores—
one Earth family
TSUNAMI
por Francisco X. Alarcón
las alas del mar
barren furiosas tierra
lágrimas, brisa
el agua incendia
edificios, casas huérfanas
arden de dolor
olas con dolor
van a todas las costas—
todos familia
Aftermath
by Francisco X. Alarcón
snow flecks weep over
the wreckage of erased towns
along Japan's coast
silence all around
is now only broken by
the sobbing of trees
a lone cherry tree
is getting ready to bloom
in spite all this doom
Devastación
by Francisco X. Alarcón
cópulos de nieve
lloran los destrozos de
pueblos costeños
el silencio es roto
sólo por el lloriqueo
de los árboles
un cerezo solo
se alista a florecer
entre tanta pena
Tanka for Japan
by Elizabeth Marino
LEGACY SAPLINGS
Two groves --a cartographer's dream
Your blooms --a sudden sweetness
Here, your openhanded gifts
thrive under our militant sun.
Cherry blossom dreams.
Cherry blossoms, heavy water
Fall from legacy saplings.
In a moment, the earth
Rose and met the sea.
Time's idea meets
Your blooms --a sudden sweetness
Our pinks singed by snow.
Four Haiku, the Earth, Turtle Islands
By Alma Luz Villanueva
Earth spring dances sweet
new axis, new birthing time,
salt, roses, one song.
* * * *
Children jump the waves,
innocent as dolphins leap,
claim our oceans back.
* * * *
May the greedy shrink
to fit their wallet's shadow,
stay there for-ever.
* * * *
May the sharing ones
flow over time space to love
the other, the one.
Fukushima Daiichi 1
Por Xánath Caraza
Al oscilar la tierra
Caen las casas
La gente desespera
Hacia la isla noble
Corren las olas
Agua cubre la tierra
De reactores sale
Yodo radiactivo
Agua marina cerca
For Japan
by Lorna Dee Cervantes
3/27/11
Butterfly wakes, bees
Still, hearts go out with a surge
Melt down the hours
3/14/11
Single mourning dove
Kura who who who who who?
Green river, no town
II
Ocean apart: same
Surge as cherry trees shudder
Sad sunrise waiting
3/11/11
Turtle Island wakes
Stretches of waves take life while
She paddles. Love her.
II
Cherry blossoms' pink
Shrouds quake, ocean becomes wind
Wood shreds. So many lives!
Rising Sun
by Ivan Torres
for Japan...
The sun needs to rise
to help heal all the people
shaken, awakened.
- - -
The sun needs to rise
and so do we, earth siblings
to mend the broken east.
"Warrior Zen of the Dishes"
by Meg Withers
"I however, am a woman of warrior descent." (Shido, c. 1304)
Do not forget
you are handling a knife.
The window disappears
into steam.
Wet yellow plates squeak
new shoes.
What has this moment to do
with ancient texts?
Haiku for Japan
By Sabrina Vourvoulias
Petals on each face,
white and fragile spring flowers.
Uncertain beauty.
Light
by Raul Sanchez
Steel sky turns iridescent shades
heaven's torch emerging
across the horizon blinding me
✿
Five Senryu ~ an offering to Ocean
by Odilia Galván Rodríguez
on wings of ocean
water gives life or destroys ~
they were carried skyward
ocean endless
with no bottom to speak of
she cannot be blamed
for mysteries of life painful as they are deep
clouds without answers
mighty ships sinking
as if gravity were no more
a chasm
earth-water fissures
a breach in realit
your safety lost
©Odilia Galván Rodríguez, 2011
In A Few Words ~ Poems for Japan
Weeks after northern Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami, the number of confirmed dead and people missing has surpassed 28,000, and the nuclear crisis continues to threaten even more lives. We know that we are but a tiny part of this grand web of life, and that what has happened to Japan affects us all.
In response to this tragedy, in addition to prayers, Poets Responding to SB 1070 asks that the community also continue to offer any other forms of assistance that they can lend.
Additionally, in mid-March we organized a call for Haiku and Senryū poems to be dedicated to the people of Japan, with some to be selected for a special edition of La Bloga's weekly floricanto to be published on April 19th. Odilia Galván Rodríguez, one of our moderators, agreed to coordinate the effort and we extend to her our heartfelt thanks.
Our solidarity, condolences and prayers continue to be with all of the people of Japan.
United in struggle ~
Sí, se puede!
The moderators of Poets Responding to SB 1070
A note on the Haiku and Senryū and Tanka (Waka) forms:
There are many forms of Japanese poetry, three of the forms most popularly written in the English language are haiku senyru and tanka (waka). Both haiku and senryu are expressions of what is called the “The American Haiku Moment."The Japanese equivalent of syllables are much shorter and carry less informationthan in the English language. The 5-7-5 format, which is traditionally employed in writing these forms, is difficult to achieve and many Western writers of haiku feelthat a 12 syllables, with a 3-5-3 syllable meter, achieves the same quality as theJapanese form, both forms are used and are acceptable.
Senryū poems are similar to haiku, except they reveal an aspect of human nature juxtaposed with an image of nature. In contrast, haiku are short poems that inviteus into a shared experience of nature. In the Japanese tradition, seasonal words areassociated with haiku. The use of seasonal words may or may not be used in thesenyru genre of poetry. The waka or tanka, is an unrhymed verse of thirty-onesyllables or sound units. It is given rhythm by writing to a pattern of 5/7/5/7/7syllables and employ similar themes as those of haiku or senyru.
BIOS
Devreaux Baker is a writer who lives in Northern California. Her most recent book is "Red Willow People" published by Wild Ocean Press.
Francisco X. Alarcón, award winning Chicano poet and educator, is author of twelve volumes of poetry, including, From the Other Side of Night: Selected and New Poems (University of Arizona Press 2002), and Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation (Chronicle Books 1992) His latest book is Ce•Uno•One: Poems for the New Sun (Swan Scythe Press 2010). His book of bilingual poetry for children, Animal Poems of the Iguazú (Children’s Book Press 2008), was selected as a Notable Book for a Global Society by the International Reading Association. His previous bilingual book titled Poems to Dream Together (Lee & Low Books 2005) was awarded the 2006 Jane Addams Honor Book Award. He has been a finalist nominated for Poet Laureate of California in two occasions. He teaches at the University of California, Davis. He is the creator of the Facebook page POETS RESPONDING TO SB 1070 that you can visit at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poets-Responding-to-SB-1070/117494558268757?ref=ts
Xánath Caraza is a traveler, educator, poet, and short story writer. She has published her original work and essays in Circulodepoesia.com, Pegaso of the University of Oklahoma 2010 and 2009, Pilgrimage Magazine, Quercus Review, Thorny Locust, Antique Children, La Bloga, Latino Poetry Review Blog, Present Magazine.com, El Cid, Utah Foreign Language Review, and elsewhere. Additionally, her work has been published in the following anthologies: Woman’s Work: The Short Stories (Girl Child Press, 2010), Cuentos del Centro: Stories from the Latino Heartland (Scapegoat Press, 2009), Primera Página: Poetry from the Latino Heartland (Scapegoat Press, 2008), and Más allá de las fronteras (Ediciones Nuevo Espacio, 2004). 
Meg Withers grew up in a small northern California town She has traveled a lot, living in England and all over the continental U.S.A. She lived in Hawai`i for nine years. She earned her MA and MFA from San Francisco State and currently teaches at Merced Community College – Los Baños campus – an island in the middle of cotton fields and dairy farms. She considers herself a really lousy example of Buddhist practice, but her first book of poems, Must Be Present to Win, based on Buddhist practice, was published by Ghost Road Press in 2006. Her second book of poetry, A Communion of Saints, based on her life working in gay bars in Hawai’i, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic of the 80’s, was published by TinFish Press in 2008. Forthcoming this year is a book of poems based on her simultaneous love and complete ignorance of the language of math and science, particularly theoretical physics. It is entitled Particular Odyssey: In Search and will be published by Slack Buddha Press.
Sabrina Vourvoulias was born in Bangkok, Thailand -- thedaughter of a Mexican-Guatemalan visual artist and an
American entrepreneur. She grew up in Guatemala and moved to
the United States when she was 15.
Her poetry has appeared in Dappled Things, Graham House
Review and in Scheherezade's Bequest at Cabinet des Fees;
her fiction in Crossed Genres #24, the Crossed Genres Year
Two anthology and forthcoming in GUD magazine. Read her blog
at www.followingthelede.blogspot.com. Follow her on twitter
@followthelede.
Thanks Em! Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteThank you. Thank you. Did I find the floricanto interesting? Hmph! I was moved to tears by the moving floricanto. I am sharing them with my teammates and plan to share them in Japan. Please convey my thanks and appreciation to your circle of poets.
Blessings,
Carolyn Junko Baba Sillman