Fotoesculturas
This text was originally in the Fall 2010 issue of SnapShot, the project b Newsletter (Sign up at bottom of this page for your free subscription!).
Collection of Barbara Levine
Beginning in the 1930s, artisans in Mexico City started producing fotoesculturas - family portraits that combine photography, sculpture and painting to create three-dimensional photographic portraits. According to Art Historian, Monica Garza (Afterimage, 2002), “The actual process of making a fotoescultura began with a pre-existing photograph, usually obtained by a traveling salesman. Although a formal studio portrait was usually used, artisans accepted any photograph the client owned. fotoesculturas commonly included the addition of dimensioned ties, hats, shirts, buttons and various bodily features. Fotoesculturas could consist of both single and multi-figured busts, often carved from a single piece of wood. After the photograph was adhered to the bust, a retouching was done during which color and/or jewelry were applied to the bust in order to personalize the portraits. Most of the fotoesculturas were designed to stand upright on a flat surface, like small pieces of sculpture. People commonly commissioned fotoesculturas for special occasions. During World War II, fotoesculturas flourished in the United States because Mexican immigrant families wanted to commemorate relatives who were fighting in the war.”