Parábola óptica [Optical Parable], from Fifteen Photographs by Manuel Álvarez Bravo, 1974 <span>Manuel Álvarez Bravo captured images of everyday life in Mexico City with a keen eye for the ironic and the uncanny. <span style="font-style:italic;">Parábola óptica</span> (1931) shows an optician’s storefront, where modern advertisements give us an unsettling sense of being watched. Álvarez Bravo heightened the surreal quality of the photograph by printing it backwards. His carefully composed images reveal his modern sense of aesthetics.<br /><br /><br /></span> Manuel Álvarez Bravo Mexico City, 1902 - 2002, Mexico City photograph P1975.18.1/15