Art of Photography - Edward Weston

Edward Henry Weston was born in Highland Park, Illinois on March 24, 1886. In 1902, he received his first camera for his 16th birthday, a Kodak Bull's-Eye #2, and began taking photographs in Chicago parks and at his aunt's farm. 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 married Flora May Chandler in 1909, and together they had four sons: 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.

1922 marked a period of transition for Weston. Renouncing pictorialism in favor of straight photography, he would later become known as the "pioneer of precise and sharp presentation" with images of natural forms such as the human figure, seashells, plants, vegetables, and landscapes. He began regular visits to Mexico with his professional and romantic partner, Tina Modotti, whose relationship with Weston caused much gossip in the media. They were often accompanied by one of Weston's sons, who received a sound instruction in photography. Brett and Cole later embarked on their own successful careers in this field; likewise his grandson Kim, and his great-granddaughter Christine Weston (born 1958).

After 1927, Weston worked mainly with nudes, still life — his shells and vegetable studies were especially important — and landscape subjects. 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.
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 Big Sur, California on January 1, 1958, aged 71.

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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Weston

Search: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/weston_edward.html

The Edward Weston/ Cole Weston family webisite:
http://www.edward-weston.com/index.htm

music: "More Than You Know " sung by Thelma Gracen
http://www.amazon.com/Thelma-Gracen/dp/B000056FC4

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[nclshakedown]

Great video, thanks for sharing!

[amarys2art]

Wonderful your video vision concerning this great master of photography...

Thank you,again!

[fuocofly500]

great artist great video

[elainesiw62]

love it and the music is especially erotic - who is the artist (music)

[nigel101]

Edward Weston

Grass Against Sea, what is the meanin of this picture??

[azar22]

body art~!

[chemita67]

Relly impressive compilation!! Congratulations.

Which is the song?? good too

[robertodedomenico]

love love love

[NipkowDisk]

Excellent compilation. Mr. Weston sure knew his stuff, especially notable is that he used pyro for developing his negatives. Pyro yields gradation that has no comparison IMO. Nothing like it.

[gonzo3333]

Increible