Edward Weston
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| Edward Weston | |
 Imogen Cunningham's 1922 portrait of Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston |
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| Born | March 24, 1886 Highland Park, Illinois |
| Died | January 1, 1958 (aged 71) Big Sur, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | Photography |
Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was an American photographer, and co-founder of Group f/64. Most of his work was done using an 8 by 10 inch view camera. The New York Times newspaper reported on April 14, 2008 that Sotheby’s sold an Edward Weston photograph to a New York art dealer for $1.6 Million.
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[edit] Life and work
Born in Highland Park, Illinois on March 24, 1886. [1] He was given his first camera, a Kodak Bull's-Eye #2, for his 16th birthday, when he began taking photographs. His favorite hangouts were Chicago parks and a farm owned by his aunt. Weston met with quick success and the Chicago Art Institute exhibited his photographs a year later, in 1903. He attended the Illinois College of Photography.
In 1906, Weston moved to California, where he decided to stay and pursue a career in photography. He had four sons with his wife, Flora May Chandler (whom he married in 1909): Edward Chandler (1910), Theodore Brett (1911), Laurence (1914) and Cole (1919). In 1910, Weston opened his first photographic studio in Tropico, California (now Glendale) and wrote articles about his unconventional methods of portraiture for several high-circulation magazines.
In 1922, Weston experienced a transition from pictorialism to straight photography, becoming "the pioneer of precise and sharp presentation". His pictures included the human figure as well as items of nature, including seaside wildlife, plants, and landscapes. Tina Modotti, his professional (and romantic) partner, often accompanied him to Mexico, creating much gossip in the media. Weston's sons were also frequent companions, receiving lessons in photography from their experienced father. Brett and Cole later embarked on their own careers in the field, along with Weston's grandson Kim and great-granddaughter Christine.
After 1927, Weston worked mainly with nudes, still life — his shells and vegetable studies were especially important — and landscape subjects. Henrietta Shore was a companion in the 1930s; her paintings influenced him to photograph her shells.[2] After a few exhibitions of his works in New York, he co-founded Group f/64 in 1932 with Ansel Adams, Willard Van Dyke and others. The term f/64 referred to a very small aperture setting on a large format camera, which secured great depth of field, making a photograph appear evenly sharp from foreground to background. Weston also achieved great sharpness by not enlarging. He made contact prints from his 4x5" or 8x10" negatives. The detailed, straight photography that the group espoused was in opposition to the pictorialist soft-edged methods that were still in fashion at the time.
In 1937 the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation awarded Weston a fellowship, the first given to a photographer. He married his assistant, Charis Wilson, the following year (they had lived together since 1934, and divorced in 1946). During this time he received exclusive commissions and published several books, some with Wilson, including an edition of Whitman's Leaves of Grass illustrated with his photographs. He also produced some of his few color photographs with Willard Van Dyke in 1947. Weston also collaborated on several volumes of his photographs with photography critic Nancy Newhall, beginning in 1946.
The Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson houses a full archive of Edward Weston's work.
[edit] Illness and death
Stricken with Parkinson's Disease, Weston made his last photographs at Point Lobos State Reserve in 1948. 1952 saw the publication of a 50th-anniversary portfolio of his work, printed by his son Brett. Brett and Cole Weston, as well as Brett's wife Dody Warren, were appointed to print 800 of what he considered his most important negatives under his supervision in the years 1955 to 1956.
Edward Weston died in his house on Wildcat Hill in Carmel Highlands in Big Sur, California on January 1, 1958, aged 71.[3]
[edit] Legacy
His comprehensive legacy includes the detailed and articulate Daybooks he kept regularly from the mid-1920s to 1934, which allow a very intimate glimpse into his personal life, his views on photography, and his working methods. Weston is generally recognized as one of the greatest photographic artists of the 20th century.
[edit] Images
Most Popular: "Pepper #30"; "Dunes, Oceano", "Nude, 1936"
Price History:
1970s: $500 - $1,500
1980s: $3,000 - $50,000
1990s: $10,000 - $300,000
Current: $5,000 - $1.6M
Most of his photographs are rare and unnumbered and few vintage photographs are available.
Even though he was a celebrated photographer he survived selling his photos for a humble price of $7-10. Now, they have gone up over 1,000,000% in value.
[edit] Quotations
"Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it may be."
"The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh."
"I cannot believe I learned anything of value in school unless it be the will to rebel."
"I want the stark beauty that a lens can so exactly render presented without interference of artistic effect."
[edit] Selected publications
- Edward Weston: The Last Years in Carmel
- Edward and Brett Weston: Dune
- The Daybooks of Edward Weston
- Edward Weston: Nudes
- Portraits by Edward Weston
- Tina Modotti & Edward Weston: The Mexico Years
- Edward Weston: His Life
- Edward, Cole, Kim Weston: Three Generations of American Photography
- Edward Weston: 1886-1958
- Edward Weston (Masters of Photography Series)
- Laughing Eyes (a collection of letters between Edward and Cole Weston)
- Through Another Lens: My Years with Edward Weston by Charis Wilson and Wendy Madar (1998) ISBN 0-86547-521-0
[edit] External links
- A brief biography from the Getty Museum
- edward-weston.com
- Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- Digital Commons of the University of Arizona
- kimweston.com
- A Gallery for Fine Photography
- Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston & Charis Wilson
[edit] References
- ^ World War I draft registration
- ^ The Roots of California Photography: The Monterey Legacy by Steve Hauk, 2002, DVD, http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/the-roots-california-photography-the-monterey-legacy
- ^ "Edward Weston Dead. 'Picasso of the Camera'.". Associated Press in Washington Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/121051608.html?dids=121051608:121051608&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JAN+02%2C+1958&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Edward+Weston+Dead%3B+%27Picasso+of+the+Camera%27&pqatl=google. Retrieved on 2008-06-21. "Edward Weston, world famed photographic artist, died today at his home in Carmel Highlands. He was 71."
