As the generation of leaves, so is that of men.

These words by the Greek poet Homer appeared beside this image in the catalog for the 1955 Family of Man exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art. The quote reminds viewers that in death and burial man reaches the end of a cycle, much like leaves at the end of a season. For the Mexican people, however, death marks not an ending but a perpetual cycle of renewal. In Manuel Alvarez Bravo's photograph, the rural artifact and miniscule daisy plant adorning a gravesite affirm the infinite resourcefulness of the human spirit.