Dramatic Photos of the Mexican Revolution at Soka

A reception will be held Saturday evening for a new exhibit of some old photos.

An opening reception will be held Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for "Mexico at the Hour of Combat: Sabino Osuna’s Photographs of the Mexican Revolution." 

The exhibit will be open at Soka University’s Founders Hall Art Gallery in Aliso Viejo through August 23, 2013. It's the first time these rare photos from 1910-1914 have been shown in Orange County.

• Founders Hall Art Gallery, located at 1 University Drive in Aliso Viejo, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

The exhibit and book based on the Osuna Collection of 427 glass negatives of the Mexican Revolution are usually held in the Special Collections section of University of California, Riverside. 

Little is known about Osuna, the principal photographer. Internal evidence suggests that he was a commercial photographer in Mexico City, whose work shifted from portraiture and architectural studies to photo history when the Revolution began.

He had excellent access to the major players on all sides, and captured many moods of this dramatic revolutionary period. The collection is not just an odd gathering. It displays internal unity, with several concentrations of subject matter. It primarily covers the early years of the Revolution, in and around the capital.