"Tina Modotti has emerged in recent years as one of the important photographers of this century. During her lifetime she struggled to find a balance between her political and social life and her art. A central figure in the modernist photography movement, she documented the people and tumultuous politics of Mexico. Her portraits range from hired studio shots of socialites to documentation of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo at a political rally that turned violent. She traveled throughout Mexico recording murals, cultural and religious icons, women in Tehuantepec, and workers at their daily tasks. Many of her most powerful images, such as Mexican sombrero with hammer and sickle, are modern in aesthetic, political in content. Modotti was a revolutionary in all matters, from her political activism to her modern and high-profile personal life, and her elegant and forthright photography." "The finest of Modotti's images are presented in this volume, accompanied by an essay by Margaret Hooks."--BOOK JACKET.