“I just get the will to do it. I don’t plan a photograph in advance — I work by impulse. No philosophy, no ideas. Not by the head, but by the eye. Eventually inspiration comes. Instinct is the same as inspiration and eventually it comes."
~ Manuel Álvarez Bravo
(1902-2002)
A young girl is standing on a balcony, caught in a wistful moment. Don Manuel as he sits quietly reading below in the tenement, where he lived, glances up and sees her. He immediately jumps up to retrieve his camera and returns quickly to find the girl in the same position. Despite its simplicity the image is a rhapsody of longing, lament and revery. It’s up to each of us to form our own meaning and interpret it as we will. To me it has always been one of the most tender and romantic images I have ever experienced and has haunted me since the first time I have seen it.
The sunlight gently caresses her right shoulder adding to her vulnerability. We are enveloped in her thoughts and dreams, her dreams and our own become one.
