The Edge of Time: Photographs of Mexico by Mariana Yampolsky (Southwestern & Mexican Photography Series, Wittliff Collections at Texas State University-San Marcos)
by Mariana Yampolsky
Category: Photography

"This is my country." Mariana Yampolsky knew it the moment she opened her window and saw a bougainvillea blooming against a white wall on her first morning in Mexico City in 1944. Her empathy for the Mexican people and their land has guided her work for more than fifty years, finding expression in books of dramatic black-and-white photographs ranging from her early La casa en la tierra and La casa que canta to The Traditional Architecture of Mexico. The Edge of Time presents a retrospective of Yampolsky's photographic work since 1960. Reflecting her lifelong concerns, the images capture rural Mexico and its people with respect and infinite care. They function as works of art and as documents of a moment in Mexico's history when lifeways that have endured for centuries face the onslaught of modernization. Elena Poniatowska has been Yampolsky's friend for many years and, in the foreword, she describes Yampolsky's method of working and includes many quotes from the photographer herself. Sandra Berler provides an overview of Yampolsky's life and the range of her work. Francisco Reyes Palma concludes the text with an exploration of Yampolsky's photographic aesthetic.