Libertad Lamarque. México. 1956.

Vintage gelatin silver print. Measurements: 17.5 x 13.5 cm / 6.88 x 5.31 in. On the back, the advertising of the photographic equipment printed on a wet stamp and various handwritten annotations from the editor.

In the field of professional photography, the great inventiveness and speed of photojournalists is recognized, and in this tender home scene we have a perfect example of this.

Probably in a routine photojournalism session organized by the photographic agency of the Mayo Brothers of Mexico, the Argentine actress Libertad Lamarque (Rosario, 1908-Mexico DF, 2000) is surprised by the camera in an affectionate gesture towards hers two small dogs her chihuahua; later, and in the laboratory, a "cropping" was carried out, centering the scene on the figure of the diva and removing the person sitting on the right.

By then, the "girlfriend of America" ​​had been living in Mexico for a long time, continuing the successful career of actress and singer that she had started in her native Argentina, from which she had to leave due to serious artistic discrepancies with Eva Perón.

At the time of this shot, Mrs. Lamarque was filming the film "Bambalinas" as the main character, a dramatic film by director Tulio Demicheli that was part of the "golden age of Mexican cinema”.

MAYO BROTHERS 

“Hermanos Mayo”, the group of Galician photographers, was integrated with five members of two different families: Francisco Souza Fernández; Cándido Souza Fernández; Julio Souza Fernández; Faustino del Castillo Cubillo and Pablo del Castillo Cubillo. They started the march in their native Galicia; They did so supporting the ideology of the Republic and finally registered the Civil War that engulfed Spain until they had to emigrate, first to France and later, in 1939, to Mexico.

In the adoptive homeland, where they were always considered political exiles, they carried out enormous photojournalistic work for decades under the name "Foto Hnos. Mayo". They created their agency and although they cultivated all genres working for the most important Mexican and international newspapers and magazines, they never detached themselves from their commitment in the fight for democracy, for example, taking the most powerful images of the strikes of 1958 and 1959, and the student movement of 1968, a watershed moment in contemporary Mexican history. (1)

Note:

1. John Mraz: Mexico on its images. Mexico, Arts of Mexico, 2014, p. 272.