My father's Clarinet teacher & Edward Weston

[Leszek Vogt]

Oceano Dunes
Brett Weston, 1984

Again, this is only a digital file but at times is seems that Brett carried his father's mastery of tonality to an even higher level of sophistication.

I've lived near those dunes back in '84. Brett manipulated this shot quite heavily to give him that sensual touch.

Les

[Ken Lee]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the good thread. This is a seldom seen photo from the Whitman trip because the publisher chose not to include it in the book; or many other of his finest from the trip, much to Edward's disappointment. There is a print in the Lane Collection at the MFA in Boston, I believe.

Adding to the characteristics you note in the photograph, is the fascinating story of Bessie Jones' life. A search should find an oral interview.

As for Edward and Brett, they had an understanding of light. I believe the two photos (this and Brett's, Ocaeno) were taken on overcast days. And Brett, more than his dad, was intent on revealing form.

This thread reminds me of your 2010 series, "These I like." Are you considering reviving it?

Best,
Merg

Thanks for that background information. Many of us (like me) are limited to what appears in books.

I don't know about reviving the series but an unintended consequence of this thread has been to make me aware of the potential of genuine monochrome images (not toned), which I had previously overlooked. Ever since seeing Strand's photos in the 1970's, I have always striven for a "bronze" quality but I am reconsidering this prejudice.

It strikes me as harder to make beautiful images in real black and white: a bit like doing a high-wire act without a net :-)

[Merg Ross]

I've lived near those dunes back in '84. Brett manipulated this shot quite heavily to give him that sensual touch.

Les

Hello Les,

I would have to disagree that Brett manipulated this print heavily. Of course, all photographs are a manipulation of sorts.

He made a similar photograph at the Oceano Dunes in 1934, fifty years earlier. This photograph is simply the result of Brett's vision, and the way he exposed and printed his negatives. My guess is that this is a near straight print from an 8x10 negative. He was a master of craft and vision.

[Ken Lee]

Untitled, 1972
Brett Weston
© The Estate of Brett Weston / Bridgeman Copyright

Here's another of many photographs I've never seen before, viewable online at the Minneapolis Museum of Art

[Merg Ross]

Ken, do you have Art Wright's DVD of "Brett Weston Photographer"? It has over 800 of his photographs from the BW Archive. Well worth the price.

Merg

http://www.brettwestonphotographer.com/

[PRJ]

Thanks for posting that link Ken.

[Ken Lee]

Ken, do you have Art Wright's DVD of "Brett Weston Photographer"? It has over 800 of his photographs from the BW Archive. Well worth the price.

Merg

http://www.brettwestonphotographer.com/

No - I have never seen it. Thank you Merg !

[Merg Ross]

No - I have never seen it. Thank you Merg !

Most welcome, Ken. As further inticement, you will see yours truly photographing with Brett at Point Lobos! Ha,ha!

[Drew Wiley]

My favorite Brett book on my bookshelf has that dune picture on the front cover. It's almost a metaphor for a nude. But technique-wise, he's the photographer who basically pioneered the use of blacked-out shapes for their graphic quality. So he shot and developed accordingly. Interestingly, even though I started out as a color photographer, I ran into a graphically-shadowed piece of deep red petrified wood in Arizona which reminded me of the kind of thing Brett would have been attracted to; so I took a 4X5 Ektachrome of it and printed it boldy in Cibachrome, with blacked-out shadows. The gallery owner stuck it in the front window in Carmel, and when I returned there a couple weeks later, there was a kind note from Brett about it. It's one of two prints he is said to have purchased that are still on display somewhere in the Pebble Beach complex after all these years, according to a photographer friend who organizes big golf events there. It amazes me how Brett basically did things almost the same way for decades. But all along, he tended to improve within that same vein. Toward the end, his prints seemed to get a bit more metaphysical or layered. Merg is one of the few people I can think of who has successfully adopted a similar style of discipline. I bounce back n forth all over the place, from one style to another, from color to b&w n'back, not to mention I'm a format schizophrenic. But I enjoy the variety, and it doesn't seem to get diluted in any particular segment by doing that.

[Merg Ross]

Ken, please excuse me for trespassing on your thread; I thought you might enjoy the background to the making of Art Wright's film on Brett. Scroll down to the next to last post.

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...ston+safelight