Roses, Mexico (section)

Four roses press together in this photograph, their petals folding and overlapping until it becomes hard to tell where one bloom ends and the next begins. Tina Modotti made the image in Mexico in 1925, and though it is entirely in soft grays, the petals still seem plush and heavy. She cropped in so close that the flowers fill every inch of the frame, with no stem or vase to anchor them. The result reads almost like a study of light curling around soft shapes.

Born in Italy, Modotti made her name in Mexico during the 1920s, a period alive with art and revolutionary spirit. She sharpened her eye working beside photographer Edward Weston, and this picture carries the same devotion to form that ran through their group of friends. The roses have a surprising twist in their story too. When a print sold at auction in 1991, it set a record as one of the priciest photographs ever purchased, a reminder that a plain subject handled with real thought can outlast far grander ambitions.