Frida Kahlo's paintings are known all around the world, but her photography collection reveals even more about her life, her artistic process and the Mexico where she lived. Kahlo was fascinated with photography for most of her life, drawing inspiration from her father, Guillermo Kahlo, a noted photographer. She was an avid collector of photos.
The photographs in this exhibition are drawn from the archive at the Casa Azul, the famous blue house where Kahlo grew up, now a museum in her honour. The photographic archive was only revealed to the public in 2007, and Mexican photographer and historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio has sifted through the 6,500 strong collection to pick the 257 photographs headed to Bendigo.
The photos capture Kahlo and her friends and family at work, at home, and even in her extended hospital stay following a debilitating 1925 accident. There'll be work on display from Kahlo's contemporaries, including Man Ray, Martin Munkacsi, Fritz Henle, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti, Pierre Verger, and Lola and Manuel Alvarez.