Edward Weston? What am I missing?

[Michael Daily]

Having had the opportunity of working with about 105 original Weston prints of images that did NOT become famous and seeing many originals of his that DID, I see that even the masters have off days and make mediocre images. I found that quite comforting to know that they, too, have feet of clay... That said, the original print of the "Pepper No. 30" printed by him is a standard of quality I aspire to with no real hope of getting there. I try in printing to make something that, if on the same wall as Adams or E. Weston, I would not be ashamed. I find Weston's earlier work from Mexico and the earlier Point Lobos stuff moving and the more modern stuff less so.
Michael

[Inverse]

I recently saw a platinum print of Weston's, I believe it was of a cabbage or something similar, at the MOMA. I have no idea how to make a cabbage so amazing to look at, or what drove him to do that. Nevertheless, it was pretty fascinating.

[Martin D.]

You are not missing anything at all. In my opinion, well executed photos of boring objects. He redid what was done before in painting; no originality or striking philosophy here. I guess books and calendars with his photos are easy to market therefore his art is being pushed by publishers and galleries. When they find an easier way to make money, they will switch to something else. He is a contemporary artist; whether he will withstand the test of time we will never find out, unless we live 200 years. There is usually almost no philosophy behind photos; usually people just talk loud and repeat what was said before; they just pretend that their photos are a fullfilment of some bright philosophy.

Can you name one of the winners of the Official salon during the Impressionist era? These guys made some decent money, had a nice life. In most cases they never found out that their art was dumped 10 years after they died. Although, it is even hard to say dumped, it was in 1880s, just 125 years ago, just a milisecond ago in terms of any reasonable time test.

If his prints do not survive in a decent state a few hunder years, he will not even get a chance to withstand something.

[Colin Robertson]

There's no obligation to like Weston, although I happen to think he was an extraordinary talent. Once, I hated Ansel Adams- I reckoned his work sterile and overly concerned with technique. Now, I'm kinda fond of him. Much as I hated Jimi Hendrix, but now find I've grown to enjoy him. Conversely I thought Terrence Mallick was astounding, but now see his films as a bit contrived. We all grow, we all change, as the course of our lives shapes our tastes.

[Jan_6568]

I was born and grew up in Poland. I remeber my father had a subscription to monthy journal Fotografia (Photography) for some few years. As a child I really liked this journal, just looking the images. One of my earliest memories realted to photograhy is a reproduction of Edward Weston's shells they published. I recall I was deeply moved. I had to be six or seven that days.
Now, some year ago I moved to Tucson, AZ and since then I am a frequent guest at CCP. Every week I go there to pick three boxes of prints to see and always one of them is Edward Weston's work. I do not choose particular images, I just want to see everything they have and this is a LOT. Some of the images are not superb some are deeply touching. Some are quite abstract and some do have deep meaning, mostly his portraiture, especially form his mexican days. What I see in his work is beauty. I stand in front of some of his images and just feel joy. This is similar reaction to listening to Bach's Die Kuns der Fuge.

regards,
Jan

[Ron Marshall]

I've seen many of the books of his work, I've also seen a few prints in museums.

Some of his images really make a strong impression on me, some do nothing for me.

Even with my favourite photographers I often don't enjoy many of their images.

[paulr]

You are not missing anything at all. In my opinion, well executed photos of boring objects ...

Troll!

but -10 points for lack of imagination and poor grasp of art history.

[Brian Ellis]

Part of the reason for your dislike might be the fact that he's been so imitated. Things he did that were novel in their time (e.g. the Armco steel factory photographs) have become cliches. Also, while I haven't seen the book you bought I'd assume from the title that it doesn't include images from what I think of as his strongest period, i.e. the 1920s-1930s. Still, there's no rule that says you have to like Edward Weston's work.

[Brian Ellis]

I should have mentioned that if you want to expand your knowledge of Weston's work (not that you have any duty to do so) I'd suggest that you check out "Edward Weston - Life Work" published by Lodima Press, Michael Smith's publishing venture. There you'll see a much broader selection of his photographs and the quality of the reproduction is about as good as it gets. Not cheap - around $100 I think - but very worthwhile for anyone interested in Weston.

[reellis67]

Another thing the Daybooks offer is a rare glimpse into the mind of a skilled photographer of that time period. It is amazing to read what he was thinking of when he made some of these images. I understood, or thought I did, about line, and movement, and so on, until I read the passage about the shells and how he was seeing not the shell itself, but the curvilinear lines they presented. I was looking only at the shell, but this opened my mind to the possability that there was more to see than the subject alone. Weston focused on the details, the core elements rather than the subjects themselves, which can be, in my opinion, difficult to follow or appreciate without the proper background in art and design.

I get into his work now because I spent time discussing these concepts with painters, who I found, had a much deeper understanding had of these concepts than the photographers I knew at the time. Understanding the a bit about these basic concepts gave me to the ability to appreciate Westons vision more, which in turn led to a deeper understanding of those concepts, which led to more appreciation, and so on. It hasn't stopped yet...

- Randy