Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo.

One of the spaces created to promote the art of photography through exhibitions, workshops, and lectures in Oaxaca’s historic center is the Manuel Álvarez Bravo Photographic Center. Dedicated to one of the greatest exponents of 20th-century Mexican photography, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, the center was founded by Francisco Toledo on September 17, 1996, with the presence of the renowned photographer himself.

Since its inception, the Center has occupied two colonial buildings in Oaxaca’s historic downtown. In 2005, it was located at Murguía Street 302, and later, on August 5 of the same year, it was relocated to Manuel Bravo Street 116, just a few blocks from the Santo Domingo de Guzmán temple.

Over time, its collection has grown to include works by Francis Alÿs, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Hugo Brehme, Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Casasola Archive, Foto Estudio Jiménez, Rogelio Cuéllar, the Roberto Donis collection, Héctor García, Maya Goded, Lourdes Grobet, Guillermo Kahlo, Josef Koudelka, Nacho López, Tina Modotti, Sebastião Salgado, Edward Weston, Eniac Martínez, and Mary Ellen Mark, among others.

The CFMAB is structured around seven galleries dedicated to temporary exhibitions focused on photography and its variants. It houses a specialized library with over four thousand volumes on the history, theory, technique, and dissemination of photographic practice.

The Center is complemented by the Eduardo Mata Sound Library, which holds more than three thousand recordings spanning classical, jazz, blues, ethnic, and other musical genres. Additionally, the site offers photography and reading workshops, book and portfolio presentations, screenings, and guided tours. It also features a professional black-and-white laboratory, used during sessions and available for regular use by accredited photographers.