Tina Modotti was born in
Italy on August 16 or 17 (no one knows for sure) in 1896, and died of a
heart attack in 1942. She was known for her
photography and
political perspectives. She was an uneducated
working class girl in turn-of-the-century Italy and a sophisticated
actress,
muse and
femme fatale in
Hollywood before spending the years from 1923 to 1930 in
Mexico, where she became an increasingly popular
political photographer; later, among other activities, she was a relief worker in the
Spanish Civil War.
In Tina's words,"...to solve the problem of life, lose yourself in the problem of art."
A particularly
famous photograph of Modotti's was called "
Roses". Each photograph she took was as
unique as that one...where you could actually
feel the
textures,
smells and
environment. If it was a
portrait, the viewer could even understand the
person portrayed. She fell in
love several times and many believed that she was one who was
never afraid to live life
wildly,
freely,
passionately,
madly.
"It is better to die standing than to have lived underneath." T.M.