Tina Modotti Research Paper

Tina Modotti

Tina Modotti became a successful and talented photographer in a short amount of time. She was born in Udine, Italy on August 16, 1896. Her parents were, Assunta, who was a seamstress and, Giuseppe, who was a mason. She was an only child and spent many days alone. She found ways to entertain herself such as singing, dancing, and even drawing. Her uncle, Pietro Modotti, maintained a photography studio. She spent much of her free time there, learning how to properly take pictures. Later on though, she caught a greater interest in acting and at the age of 16, she immigrated to the United States to join her father in San Francisco, California who had moved for a better job opportunity.

Later in the U.S, Tina’s father ran a photography studio in San Francisco. Her passion for photography grew more and she knew she had a skill for it. While in Los Angeles, she met the photographer Edward Weston, was an important photographer and documentarian. It was through Edward Weston that Tina developed more passion and dedication for photography. For the mean time though, She

She joined International Red Aid, a Communist organization. On November 1926, Weston left her to work on her groups in Mexico and returned to living in California. Starting in 1927, Tina found her focus shifting and more of her work becoming politically motivated. Around that period, her photographs began appearing in popular publications. Her career as a photographer was put into two categories: "Romantic" and "Revolutionary" with the former period including her time spent as Weston’s darkroom assistant, office manager and, creative partner. Her later works were inspired by her living alone in Mexico and representing many people. Including the focus of her woman retrospective exhibition at the National Library in December 1929, which was advertised as "The First Revolutionary Photographic Exhibition In