Agustin Victor Casasola was one of the first in Mexico to realize the power of images and to crusade for their collection and preservation.
Ninety-two photographs from the Casasola Archives, the massive photojournalistic collection he amassed during his lifetime, are on exhibit at the Idaho State Historical Museum through Jan. 14.
The exhibit is the result of a partnership between the museum and the Consulate of Mexico?s Boise office. Previous partnerships included celebrations and exhibitions for Dia de los Muertos, this year and last.
The museum recognized Casasola?s historic importance and his understanding of ?the decisive moment,? to borrow a phrase from Casasola?s admirer, the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Cartier-Bresson wrote of understanding not only the significance of a happening, but the right second to photograph it.
?It?s also important that we have this particular exhibit here because of the number of Hispanic people living in southwestern Idaho. It gives them a sense of inclusion,? said Anne Schorzman, museum staffer.
The consulate is eager to share the exhibit and other aspects of Mexican culture and history with Idahoans of Mexican and other backgrounds, said cultural attache Valerie Mejer.
The photographs, which capture an immediacy and intimacy despite being as much as a century old, are powerful for all audiences.
Images include a man, smoking, awaiting his execution; urban policemen with the gaze of a young Michael Corleone; and circus performers, revolutionaries and courtroom observers.
?He wanted to capture real people doing real things, even in a time of great unrest,? said Schorzman. One of her favorite photos was shot from a rooftop, looking at the street below, with men in sombreros packed together, demonstrating for higher wages.
?Casasola somehow understood those moments,? she said. ?The only explanation is talent.?
A CRITICAL ERA
The exhibit?s focus is a significant time in Mexican history, said Mejer.
Photographs span the years 1910 to 1940, from the beginning of the Mexican Revolution to the decades following as Mexico entered the age of industry and modernism.
?Casasola is one of Mexico?s treasures,? said Mejer. ?Not every Mexican knows his name, but even the most humble people would recognize a photo from his archives. They would be as familiar as the photographs of Abraham Lincoln would be to Americans.?
Casasola became a photographer at the turn of the last century. By 1911, one year into the Mexican Revolution, he had founded one of the world?s first photography agencies, the Agencia Fotografica Mexicana.
?He was among the first to understand the value of photographs as intellectual property,? said Mejer.
Casasola was bold. He once climbed a pole in Guatemala to photograph an execution where photography was banned. He was a fine photographer in his own right, but part of his gift was recognizing the talents of others.
His press agency gathered work by photographers like Guillermo Kahlo (father of artist Frida Kahlo), American Edward Weston and many others.
The exhibition now in Boise arrived from Mexico City and has shown in Rome, Paris and New York City, among other cities, said Mejer.
She hopes the consulate, which opened its Boise office in 2009 to serve Mexican citizens living in the United States and strengthen relations between the two countries, will partner with the museum on other projects.
?We?re so happy a museum is embracing us in this way. We have art collections, writers and more, and we can bring them all here,? she said.
?We just need sponsors, and a museum to say yes.?
Anna Webb: 377-6431
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