Reva Brooks
Reva Brooks | |
---|---|
Born | Reva Silverman May 1913 |
Died | 24 January 2004 San Miguel de Allende in Mexico | (aged 90)
Occupation | Photographer |
Reva Brooks (May 1913 – 24 January 2004) was a Canadian photographer who did much of her work in and around San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. The
Career
Reva Silverman was born in Toronto, Ontario in May 1913. Her parents, Moritz Silverman and Jenny Kleinberg had immigrated to Canada from Poland. Moritz arrived in Toronto in 1905 and began work in the Jewish garment district on Spadina Avenue, and after three years had saved enough money to send for Jenny, whom he married at once. Moritz Silverman set himself up in a tailoring and pressing shop, where Reva and her six siblings were raised.[2]
In 1935, she married the artist Frank Leonard Brooks. While they were on a trip to San Miguel de Allende she took up photography. The couple were early members of what became a well-known colony of artists in that town.[3] They arrived in 1947, planning to stay for a year while Frank Brooks studied painting, and eventually stayed for fifty years.[4]
On 12 August 1950 Leonard and Reva Brooks, as well as Stirling Dickinson and five other American teachers, were deported from Mexico. The official reason was that they did not have proper work visas but the cause may have been a falling out with the owner of a rival art school. Leonard Brooks managed to get the order lifted so they could return through his contact with General Ignacio M. Beteta, to whom he had once given advice on painting and whose brother Ramón Beteta Quintana was an influential politician at the national level.[5]
Work
In September–October 1950, before the official opening of the
Reva Brooks ( with her husband Leonard) exhibited at Eaton’s Art Gallery, Toronto, in 1949. A larger forum for her work was provided by EXPO’67 in the International Exhibition of Photography: The Camera as Witness.[7] Although individual photographers remained unnamed in favour of an all-encompassing theme of optimism, Reva’s images were identifiable by subject due to their human interest. Once again, her work was seen among esteemed photographers, such as Inge Morath.[7]
In 1976, her work was included in an exhibition at the
She died in San Miguel de Allende in 2004.[3]
References
- ^ "Brooks, Reva". Canadian Women Artists History Initiative. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ Virtue 2001, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b Canadian Women Artists History Initiative.
- ^ a b Virtue 2012.
- ^ Berger & Wood 2010, p. 206.
- ^ Virtue 2001, p. 165.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sutnik 2003, p. n.p..
- ^ Mann, Margery; Nogales, Ann (1975). Women of Photography: An Historical Survey. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Art. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Reva Brooks: "Aspiring Musicians" photograph, reproduced". www.newspapers.com. Ottawa Citizen, Feb 05, 2000, p.124. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
Bibliography
- Berger, Dina; Wood, Andrew Grant (2010). Holiday in Mexico: Critical Reflections on Tourism and Tourist Encounters. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4571-8. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
- Close, Karen; Taylor, Jeremy; Brooks, Leonard (1998). Reva Brooks Photographer. Burlington, Ontario: By The Lake Books. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
- Virtue, John (2001). Leonard and Reva Brooks: Artists in Exile in San Miguel De Allende. McGill-Queens. ISBN 978-0-7735-2298-5. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
- Virtue, John (2012). "Leonard and Reva Brooks". McGill-Queens University Press. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
- Sutnik, Maia-Mari (2003). "Reva Brooks: Enduring Images & Artistic Alliances". Reva Brooks: Photographs (Westlake, Marilyn; Boland, Margot S. (eds.)). Toronto, Ontario: M + M Press. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
- Tamayo, Rufino; Siqueros, D`Alfaro (1970). Reva Brooks Fotografis. Mexico City: Instituto National de Bellas Artes. Retrieved 2021-02-12.