Weston's Whitman

[Alan Curtis]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2012/04/08/edward-weston-illustrates-walt-whitman-leaves-of-grass-photos.html#slide1
There are some Weston Photographs in this that I've never seen.

[chuck461]

Thanks. Looks like I may be able to get there. Good chance I'd miss it without your notice.

[darr]

Thank you for posting this!

[William Whitaker]

Thanks for the post and the heads-up. I look forward to seeing it.

[Bill_1856]

Ho-hum. Weston in decline.

[rknewcomb]

We should all be so fortunate to have a peak from which to "decline" and to have made such images. I doubt that they will ever write about me or show my work in such a venue.
Robert

[billbretz]

Ho-hum. Weston in decline.

Well, he must have foreseen internet discussion boards.

From the MFA site, Weston is quoted:

“I do believe . . . I can and will do the best work of my life. Of course I will never please everyone with my America—wouldn’t try to.”

Thanks for posting, wish it were closer. Maybe it will travel. MFA seems to do a good job of showing photography, props to them.

[Heroique]

Whatever he photographed for the erotic parts in Leaves of Grass will promote good ticket sales.

;^)

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Here’s the MFA-Boston’s complete description of the show (April 21-Dec. 31, 2012):


In 1941, the Limited Editions Club of New York invited photographer Edward Weston to illustrate its deluxe edition of Walt Whitman’s epic poem Leaves of Grass. The commission inspired Weston and his wife, Charis, to take a cross-country trip, throughout the South, the Mid-Atlantic states, New England, and back to California, in their trusty Ford, which they nicknamed “Walt.” Weston’s photographs from this project—mostly made with large, 8 x 10 camera—are exceptionally wide-ranging, with a particular focus on urban and man-altered landscapes. Although he never wanted his images to literally reflect Whitman’s text, Weston did relate to the poet’s plainspoken style and his emphasis on the broad spectrum of human experience. Weston wrote of the Whitman book: “I do believe . . . I can and will do the best work of my life. Of course I will never please everyone with my America—wouldn’t try to.”

[drew.saunders]

I've seen this special edition book, and it's wonderful. Wish I could make the exhibit to see the prints.

[mdm]

I saw it on my Reader list somewhere, impressive. Never seen them before, either.

[Doremus Scudder]

Ho-hum. Weston in decline.

Au contraire! I think these are some of Weston's best. Just different from what he is best known for. I still find them inspiring.

Thanks for the link so I could enjoy them again.

Best,

Doremus

[Merg Ross]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2012/04/08/edward-weston-illustrates-walt-whitman-leaves-of-grass-photos.html#slide1
There are some Weston Photographs in this that I've never seen.

Hi Alan, thanks for posting the link.

There is a reason for not having seen some of these photographs. Weston was under contract with the Limited Edition Book Club to produce 54 photographs to illustrate the Whitman book. The salary was $1,000 plus $500 for travel expenses.

Being under contract, Weston knew that he would lose personal use due to copyright. So, whenever he thought that he might want to exhibit or sell an image later, he made slight compositional changes and made another negative. In the photograph shown here of Mr. & Mrs. W.P. Fry, the published, and elsewhere exhibited image, is very slightly different; in this case, Mrs. Fry's hands are in a different position as is Mr. Fry's cane. Thus, copyright infringement has been avoided. In the case of landscapes, the shifting clouds, such as in the Gulf Oil series, were deemed enough to avoid copyright problems. The trick was to know which images would be chosen for the book. Weston was somewhat in control here, as the contract called for only the 54. Some of these he had not been clever enough to alter slightly, thus they only appear in the book, not in the Edward Weston archive. Hope this makes sense, but indeed there are some Weston's that only appear in the Whitman book.

Approximately 750 negatives (8x10) were made on the nine month, 25,000 mile trip. He also made a number of 4x5 portraits.

[Alan Curtis]

Thanks Merg, It is great that we have your first hand knowledge about subjects just like this. $1000 for 54 Weston photographs, what a deal. I don't believe I've seen any of his work in White Sands, NM before. I hope you are still contemplating your book.

[J. Fada]

I wish there was a link to all of them or, better yet, I wish I could see them in person. Thanks for posting this.

[Merg Ross]

$1000 for 54 Weston photographs, what a deal. I don't believe I've seen any of his work in White Sands, NM before.

Even with gas at 20 cents a gallon, and 8x10 film at 25 cents a sheet, he didn't get rich from the Whitman project! However, sales of the personal work done on the trip were quite good.

You are right, the White Sands work is seldom exhibited. He spent a couple of days photographing at White Sands. The work is very different from the earlier Oceano work, more horizon and sky, devoid of strong form. Of course, different dunes and different quality of light.

[SamReeves]

Nice. Stuff you'll never see again.

[tgtaylor]

Walker Evans would have made a better fit for the Whitman project.

Thomas

[darr]

Walker Evans would have made a better fit for the Whitman project.

Thomas

+1 (Even if I get ripped by some!)

[Heroique]

Whitman? Evans is Faulkner’s man. And Steinbeck’s.

Whitman is too large for any photographer, including Weston.

But this show must be seen.

[Merg Ross]

Walker Evans would have made a better fit for the Whitman project.

Thomas

Perhaps, although it is possible that neither he nor Weston could have delivered what George Macy (director of the LEBC) envisioned. He commissioned Weston to "illustrate" Leaves of Grass.

However, in a letter to Beaumont Newhall before departure, Weston conveyed a different interpretation of the assignment. He wrote: "There will be no attempt to illustrate, no symbolism except perhaps in a very broad sense, no effort to recapture Whitman's day. The reproductions will have no titles, no captions. This leaves me great freedom -- I can use anything from an airplane to a longshoreman."

We have the results from Weston, and certainly his vision on the Whitman trip was a departure from earlier work. Whether he was the best choice for the assignment, is simply conjecture.

[Vick Vickery]

Very interesting...I've never studied Weston to any depth and haven't seen any of his architectural work or known that he had ever worked in Louisana or Mississippi.

[healyzh]

I was lucky enough to be in the Boston area for training and was able to see this exhibit shortly after it opened. I found it quite inspirational. I'd recommend that anyone who gets the chance to see it does so!

[Sylvester Graham]

Wow this weird. I saw this exhibit today. Didn't realize they were showing his prints but managed to stroll through. Didnt blow my mind but his stuff is so overshown (along w/ the other bw mid century photographers) the iconic stuff loses its glimmer, so it was nice to see unknown work. Many images I'd never seen before, including an unexpected shot of a graveyard in my childhood town.

Also, Ori Gerscht very cool.

[healyzh]

I think it helped that this was my first time seeing anything like this in person, rather than in a book, or online. I was blown away by the sharpness of his prints, and the level of detail in them. It has inspired me to try and get a good modern lens for my Deardorff V8, currently I only have two different length sets of Gundlach "Turner-Reich" Anastigmat convertible lens elements and a shutter they'll all fit in for a total of about 5 focal lengths. Though I have to finish sorting out being able to develop my own film before I worry about upgrading (nearly there, I think).

The exhibit I was there specifically to see was " Silver, Salt, and Sunlight Early Photography in Britain and France". I found it pretty amazing as well.

[C. D. Keth]

I wouldn't worry too much about new lenses for 8x10. Use your convertible at sharp stops and you'll get that sort of look. I don't know what he was using by the time Weston did these pictures, but in the 20s and the 30s he was using positively old fashioned lenses simply stopped down as far as he could.

[Kevin Crisp]

He did use a Turner-Reich and a single element 19" protar, among others. So going to modern lenses to get the sharpness you were impressed by is a questionable route to take.

[paulr]

It's interesting looking at these. I always thought the Leaves of Grass project was Weston's biggest failure (maybe not counting the mountains of WW2 era cats, or the nudes in gas masks). But the pictures hold up on their own. I forgot how good some of them are. That's really the problem ... Weston's photos don't need any text, and Whitman's verse doesn't need any pictures. A mashup of their related, but independent and very different visions did not stand much chance.

[healyzh]

Thanks for the comments, I plan to try my Deardorff with the lens I have using the better of the two sets of elements before making any decisions, and realistically stopped down the 'bad' set of elements should give decent results. I think I'm finally to the point where I simply have to buy some 8x10 film in order to start shooting. :D

Paul, that's an interesting observation. When I visited the exhibit, I was struck by how bizarre the project was. The inclusion of the Photographs (which seem totally unrelated) in a book of Walt Whitman's poetry seems most unusual. In viewing the exhibit, I didn't miss the lack of the poetry. Just like in reading the poetry, I suspect I'd find the photographs to be distracting.

[Michael Jones]

I saw the exhibit last year in Birmingham AL; it was refreshing after seeing the usual [wonderful] suspects for years. I did not miss the poery, either.

Mike