Tina Modotti was born in Italy on August 16 or 17 (no one knows for sure) in 1896, and died of a heart attack in 1942. She was known for her photography and political perspectives. She was an uneducated working class girl in turn-of-the-century Italy and a sophisticated actress, muse and femme fatale in Hollywood before spending the years from 1923 to 1930 in Mexico, where she became an increasingly popular political photographer; later, among other activities, she was a relief worker in the Spanish Civil War.

In Tina's words,"...to solve the problem of life, lose yourself in the problem of art."

A particularly famous photograph of Modotti's was called "Roses". Each photograph she took was as unique as that one...where you could actually feel the textures, smells and environment. If it was a portrait, the viewer could even understand the person portrayed. She fell in love several times and many believed that she was one who was never afraid to live life wildly, freely, passionately, madly.

"It is better to die standing than to have lived underneath." T.M.