Modotti, Tina. Tina Modotti: Photographs, by Sarah M. Lowe.

Abrams/Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1995. [Extensive biographical information and 119 full page illustrations. Includes photographs of Modotti's lover and mentor in photography, Edward Weston.] Stiff illustrated wraps, like new.

Born in Italy in 1896, Tina Modotti arrived in California in 1913. She became a model and actress and married artist Roubaix “Robo” de l’Abrie Richey in 1918.  After his death in 1922, she moved to Mexico City, where she operated a portrait studio with her lover, photographer Edward Weston.  Although taught technique by Weston, she developed her own personal vision, expressed in photographs fueled by her passionate sympathy for the hard life of the poor and her love of art and Mexican crafts.  After Weston’s departure in 1926, Modotti became increasingly active in revolutionary politics, leading to her deportation in 1930.  She became a Comintern agent and was active in organizing medical services during the Spanish Civil War before returning to Mexico in 1939. Tina Modotti died in Mexico City on January 6, 1942, shortly after boarding a cab at midnight on the night of January 5.