Available August 2026
Julieta Pestarino
A powerful visual journey through twentieth-century Mexico, this bilingual volume showcases the iconic photography and creative community that shaped a national visual identity.
Presenting nearly 150 pictures made between 1920 and 2017,
Instante/revelación highlights the work of thirteen renowned photographers who feature prominently in the history of the medium in Mexico, including Lola and Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide, and Pablo Ortiz Monasterio.
Through a dynamic selection of images, the publication explores some of the intertwined sociocultural forces that shape life and art in Mexico. Among the photographs are stunning presentations of landscapes, architecture, and flora and fauna from across the country; depictions of daily life; and portraits of esteemed Mexican artists and writers such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Octavio Paz. An illustrated essay examines the significant role photobooks and periodicals played in disseminating these images.
The photographers featured in this volume are linked by friendship, influence, and collaboration. Their works, when viewed together as a collective narrative, reveal the spirit of fruitful exchange that characterizes this exciting chapter in Mexico's photographic history.
This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from September 1, 2026, to January 3, 2027.
Julieta Pestarino is assistant curator, Department of Photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum.
“Drawing on Octavio Paz’s 1982 landmark publication Instante y revelación as a conceptual cue, Julieta Pestarino achieves an innovative reading of Mexican photography as a historical constellation of visual thought, shared forms, and aesthetic affinities.”
—Laura González-Flores, senior researcher and professor, Institute of Aesthetic Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico
“Tomando como punto de partida conceptual la emblemática publicación de Octavio Paz de 1982 Instante y revelación, Julieta Pestarino propone una lectura innovadora de la fotografía mexicana como una constelación histórica de pensamiento visual, formas compartidas y afinidades estéticas.”
—Laura González-Flores, investigadora titular y profesora, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
“Julieta Pestarino has meticulously organized a set of powerful images into visual clusters that form a constellation of Mexican culture throughout the twentieth century. This publication reveals how photography in Mexico has taken shape in community and transcended globally, turning everyday surroundings into photo-poetry.”
—Vanesa Magnetto, Universidad Nacional de las Artes, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET
“Julieta Pestarino, en su delicada labor, organiza en núcleos visuales un conjunto de imágenes potentes que conforman una constelación de la cultura mexicana, a lo largo del siglo XX. Este catálogo revela que la fotografía en México ha tomado forma en comunidad y que ha trascendido globalmente, tornando fotopoético al entorno cotidiano.”
—Vanesa Magnetto, Universidad Nacional de las Artes, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET
"Instante/revelación: Moments in Mexican Photography explores the fertile artistic milieu of twentieth-century photography in Mexico, providing irrefutable testimony of its indomitable force within global modernism."
—Alejandra Uslenghi, Associate Professor in Latin American Literature and Culture, Director of Comparative Literary Studies, Northwestern University
"In this richly illustrated bilingual catalogue, Julieta Pestarino demonstrates how twentieth-century Mexican photography was profoundly interconnected and collectively conceived. This book is a must-have for anyone seeking an introduction to the development of one of the most influential and internationally recognized photographic traditions in Latin America."
—Juanita Solano Roa, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá
216 pages
6 1/2 x 9 inches
12 color and 143 b/w illustrations
ISBN 979-8-88712-031-7
paperback
Getty Publications
Imprint: J. Paul Getty Museum
2026