Paper short abstract:

The Mexican Revolution was a drawn-out, violent conflict, 1910-1920. Photographers graphically captured events during the Revolution that claimed perhaps a million dead, shaping our visual interpretation of the war.

Paper long abstract:

The Mexican Revolution was one of many revolts in the history of Mexico, but it became the most far-reaching. The Revolution was a drawn-out, violent and bloody affair, 1910-1920. Many photographers captured the devastating events during the Revolution that claimed perhaps over a million dead and led to the emigration of 890,000 persons to the United States.

Photography played an unprecedented role in the war. At the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, there were relatively few news photographers; however, over the years, the conflict was documented by seasoned professionals and those without expertise who had only recently picked up a camera. Photographs were made by Mexicans and foreigners alike, creating images from different perspectives. Little information remains about many of the photographers, and authorship of pictures is frequently unknown. Cameramen were often granted open access to soldiers and events, resulting in graphic portrayal of the reality of war and its human toll - material destruction, the life and death of the common man, Federals, revolutionaries and American soldiers along the border. The viewpoint of the photographers and their visual documentation shapes our interpretation of the Revolution and those war-torn times in Mexico. Through such digital collections as: http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/search/collection/mex/searchterm/revolution/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/cosuppress/

these images are more widely available for study today than ever before.

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