Fifty Years Ago Today

[Merg Ross]

It just occurred to me that it was fifty years ago this morning that Edward Weston died.

Brett, my father, and I had returned from a photo trip the night before and were at my family home in Berkeley. Having been away for a week, Brett called down to Carmel to check on his dad. His brother Chandler answered the phone and gave the sad news; Edward had passed away half an hour earlier.

I remember the day vividly, as Brett's friends from the Berkeley area dropped by to pay their respects. And, the next morning at 4:00, Brett was on his way home to Carmel.

[Walter Calahan]

The world won't be the same without Edward Weston.

[Turner Reich]

The world won't be the same without Edward Weston.

Yes, that's probably what many who knew him 50 years ago today thought when he passed away exactly 50 years ago today.

Today, 50 years later his legacy of West Coast, American, Master Photography is still as fresh as it was when he was alive, so in a way he lives, he is still relevant today, if not more so. He secured his place in the history of the medium and left us with not only the images but the written record of his life and experiences.

I might not have looked into Freida or Diego or any of the artists working during his life if I had not started with Edward Weston. Even Merg's recounting is gold in the vast sea of written work and post appreciation.

I woke up early this morning and watched the DVD's on Brett and Edward, just to start the year off right. I think I will start reading the Daybooks again for the umteenth time.

a friend

[Ted Harris]

I saw the peppers pictures in the late 1940's and they were the first photographic
images that registered with me as more than reportage. A few years later I picked up my first Speed Graphic and started shooting junior high sports.

Those first images of his that I saw still resonate.

[MIke Sherck]

Weston's photographs were the first which showed me that photography could be more than snapshots, that a photograph could have meaning and emotion and spirit. I've grown to appreciate others as well, but Edward Weston was the first for me, and the one who inspired me to attempt photography as more than a trivial pursuit.

I thought about today being the anniversary of this death this morning, as I was out photographing the new snow.

[davidb]

I was given a 1965 copy of "The Flame of Recognition" for Christmas.

I will spend a little time with it today.

[Rick Moore]

I was given a 1965 copy of "The Flame of Recognition" for Christmas.

I discovered that book in the Chicago Public Library in 1967. I can remember quite clearly taking it and a book of Paul Strand's photographs from the photography section in the northeast corner of the first floor upstairs to the magnificent fourth floor reading room.

[Jim Galli]

As TR points out, Edward was not a dead end as so many other greats seem to be. He was a jumping off point for so much other wealth. Margrethe Mather, Tina Modotti, Imogen Cunningham, and a large host of others including Merg are just a snippet of the wealth that begins at Edward.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Edward's inspiration enters every good photographers soul if they choose to recognize it. His images and writings have left a deep impression on me. The simple complexity of his images astounds me.

Jim