Moving into the home of María Izquierdo in 1935, near the National Institute of Fine Arts, Álvarez began working as an elementary school art teacher. Maria's house became a haven for intellectuals, artists, and politicians to meet and participate in the formation of the Mexican cultural identity that defined the post revolutionary era. She also took assignments from magazines like "Avance", "Espacio", "Futuro", "Vea", and "Voz", quickly earning a reputation as a skilled photojournalist. She participated in her first group exhibition in 1935, displaying two Surrealist collages at the Department of Fine Arts in Guadalajara. That year, she took a position at the Department of Education cataloging photographs. She met Lázaro Cárdenas, at the time the Minister of Education (and later President of Mexico), by chance and was asked to photograph him. Appreciating her work, Cárdenas showed her photographs to other influential people, which landed her an offer to contribute to the "El Maestro Rural" (The Rural Teacher), an influential pedagogical magazine for young teachers. Working her way up the ladder, she became a staff photographer at "El Maestro Rural" and eventually became the journal's chief photographer. Her first major commission was in 1936 from the San Agustin church to record biblical scenes.