Reva Brooks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Reva Brooks
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Leonard and Reva Brooks in San Miguel de Allende in 1948
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Reva Silverman
May 1913 |
| Died | 24 January 2004 (aged 90) San Miguel de Allende in Mexico
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| Occupation | Photographer |
Reva Brooks (born May 1913 – died January 24, 2004) was a talented Canadian photographer. She created many of her famous pictures in and around San Miguel de Allende, a city in Mexico.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art once named Reva Brooks as one of the top 50 women photographers ever. This shows how important her work was in the world of art.
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Early Life and Start in Photography
Reva Silverman was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in May 1913. Her parents, Moritz Silverman and Jenny Kleinberg, had moved to Canada from Poland. Reva grew up in Toronto with her six brothers and sisters.
In 1935, Reva married an artist named Frank Leonard Brooks. They went on a trip to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. It was during this trip that Reva started taking photographs. She quickly discovered her passion and talent for it.
Reva and Leonard Brooks became important members of a group of artists in San Miguel de Allende. They arrived in 1947, planning to stay for only a year. But they loved the place so much that they ended up living there for fifty years!
A Brief Challenge in Mexico
On August 12, 1950, Reva and Leonard Brooks, along with some other American teachers, were asked to leave Mexico. The official reason was that they did not have the right papers to work there. However, it might have been because of a disagreement with another art school.
Luckily, Leonard Brooks knew an important person named General Ignacio M. Beteta. Leonard had once given the General advice about painting. The General's brother, Ramón Beteta Quintana, was also a powerful politician. Because of these connections, Leonard was able to get the order lifted, and they could return to their home in Mexico.
Famous Photographs and Exhibitions
Reva Brooks' photography was first noticed by a famous photographer named Minor White in 1952. He was very impressed by her portrait of an older woman called Anciana (Dona Chencha). This picture was even featured on the cover of Aperture, an important photography magazine.
Confrontation and The Family of Man
In the same year, 1952, Reva Brooks sold one of her most famous photos, Confrontation, to Edward Steichen. He was the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City.
Confrontation was taken by Reva in 1948. It shows a mother grieving over her child who has died. This powerful image was included in MOMA's The Family of Man exhibition in 1955. This was one of the first big photography shows ever. Reva's photo was shown alongside works by many other well-known photographers. It was a very large print and was one of the first pictures people saw in the exhibition.
Later Exhibitions
Reva Brooks and her husband Leonard had an exhibition together at Eaton’s Art Gallery in Toronto in 1949. Her work was also shown at EXPO’67, a big international event, in an exhibition called The Camera as Witness. Even though individual photographers were not named, people could still recognize Reva's pictures because they focused on human stories.
In 1976, her photographs were shown at the National Gallery of Canada. In 1989, they were displayed at the Art Gallery of Windsor in Ontario. Reva Brooks had her first solo show in 1998 at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto. She also had a joint exhibition with Leonard Brooks in Kingston, Ontario.
Reva Brooks participated in many shows in Canada and other countries. A special exhibition looking back at all her work was held at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa in 2000. Her last solo show was also a look back at her career, held at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2002.
Reva Brooks passed away in San Miguel de Allende in 2004, leaving behind a powerful collection of photographs that captured human emotions and stories.
