Edward Weston: American Photographer Daniel J Brophy History of Photography
Term Paper “Weston is, in the real sense, one of the few creative artists of
today.
He has recreated the matter-forms and forces of nature; he has made these
forms eloquent of the fundamental unity of the work. His work illuminates man’s
inner journey toward perfection of the spirit.” --Ansel Adams, Date Unknown
Edward Weston (1886-1958) may seem like he was a confused man in trying to find
his photographic goal(s).
Just like many other photographers, both of his time and now, he strove to
find what truly satisfied his talent and the acceptance of himself. He generated
something for all photographers. This was success and recognition as a “grand
master” of twentieth century photography. This was a legacy that tells an
interesting tale; it tells a tale of a thousand plus successful and loved
photographs, a daily journal, and a life with its ups and downs and broad
dimensions. He was born in Highland Park, Illinois, and thus he was an American
photographer. His mother died when he was five, possibly the reason for his
skipping out of his schooling.
At the age of sixteen (1902), his father bought him a Kodak box camera
(Bull’s-Eye No. 2). Soon he was saving money to buy a better 5x& camera with a
tripod. Taking photographs interested and obsessed him. He wrote, “I needed no
friends now. . .Sundays my camera and I would take long car-rides into the
country. . .” In 1906, two things happened. First, a submission of his was
printed in the magazine Camera and Darkroom. This photograph was called simply
“Spring”.
Secondly, he moved to California to work as a surveyor for San Pedro, Los
Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. From that time on, his interests lied in
everything that was unorthodox (astrology, the occult, nudism, vegetarianism,
etc.). Maybe he never was much of an orthodox type man or photographer. He went
back to Illinois for several months to attend the Illinois College of
Photography. The inspiration behind this was to show his girlfriend, a daughter
of a wealthy land-owner that he’d make money for them. He then headed back to
California for good. This lead to marriage in 1909 and to two sons soon
afterwards.
During this time, Weston also became the founding member of the Camera
Pictorialists of Los Angeles. 1911: Began a portrait studio in Tropico,
California. This studio would stay open until 1922. Also 1911: He started
writing articles that were published in magazines. One of these magazines was
called American Photographer. His third and fourth sons were born in 1916 and
1919. Weston had always enjoyed photography as an art, but, in 1915, his visit
to the San Francisco Panama Pacific Exhibition began a series of events that
would lead him to a renouncement of pictorialism. At the exhibition, he viewed
abstract paintings.
These caused him to vow to capture “the physical quality of the objects he
photographed with the sharpest truthfulness and exactitude”. Thus began a
dissatisfaction with his own work. In 1922, he traveled to Ohio and took
photographs of the Armco Steel Plant and then went to New York. There he met
Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Charles Sheck and Georgia O’Keefe.
After that, he renounced pictorialism all together. He often traveled to
Mexico during the 1920s, and his photographs included nudes. One of these nudes,
named Tina Modotti, would turn into his own personal love affair, breaking up
his marriage. He made many photographs in Mexico. Some were published in the
book Idols Behind Altars by Anita Brenner. During this time, he also began to
photograph seashells, vegetables and nudes. In 1929, his first New York exhibit
occurred at the Alma Reed’s Delphic Studios Gallery and later showed at Harvard
Society of Contemporary Arts.
