Edward Weston's California Landscapes

Book Description

For more than fifteen years, Edward Weston kept a diary in which he recorded his struggle to understand himself, his society, and his medium. Seldom has an artist written about his life as vividly, intimately, or sensitively. His journal has become a classic of photographic literature.

A towering figure in twentieth-century photography, Weston sought to awaken human vision. His restless quest for beauty and the mystical presence behind it created a body of work unrivaled in the medium.

Customer Reviews:

A must read if you are an artist..........2006-08-09

I can tell that this was a really interesting book. After reading it front to back more than once, I now have a new outlook on Edward and his work. I finally understand what he was trying to convey though his images thanks to this book. Edward Weston had a fascinating life especially with all who he encountered. This is a must read if you are an artist, photographer or not!

Daybooks of Edward Weston.......2005-09-20

Second time reading Weston's Day Books over thirty years. First time I was young and only looking for technical hints. This time I'm much more interested in relationships, family, and Weston's struggle with his art, money and life A must read for all artists.

The Weston experience- an introspective look.......2004-06-13

A fascinating introspective look into the mind of one of the great American photographers of the beginning of the 20th century, Edward Weston. With his intricate, yet simple, and sometimes abstract images, Weston created a world of his own together with his "one true love," his camera. By evidently pouring his soul into every entry of his daybooks, Weston makes the reader gain a greater understanding of his technique and extraordinary eye for beauty. The chronological organization of entries takes the reader from Weston's days in Mexico through his days in California.
Not only writing about photography, Weston describes his many acquaintances (his encounters with Stieglits are most interesting), his dinner parties, his adventures in a foreign land, his romantic dealings, etc. It was interesting to read of his take on Mexico of the 1920's. Also interesting is the glimpse into the life of a struggling artist who depends of every "sitting" to survive...the life of a true artist. The pairing up of his writings with sporadic clusters of his wonderful photographs enhanced and completed this Weston experience. Alltoghether a fascinating compilation of thought, highly recommendable.

Into the Intimate Life of Ed Weston.......2003-04-18

This book is a great book to get to know the thoughts of Edward Weston on his daily work of photography and personal life. This is a diary type book of daily entries of thoughts. It has some funny points and sad points (as a lives do). Photographers today can identify with the great Photographer on his progress of daily work. If you want to see Edward Weston's thoughts in his daily life this is the book to get! I'd have to say it's awesome to know the thoughts and happenings of a great photographer of the past!

An intimate look into the mind and soul of an artist.......1998-01-10

This book stands alone in the annals of art history. No other book gives such an intimate view into the day-to-day trials of a working artist. Weston, who from time to time fostered ambitions of becoming a writer, genrously shares his thoughts and his experiences over a 15 year period, culminating in a remarkable portrait of the artist as a human being. While literary critics may have occasion to fault his prose, which at times seems flowery and verbose, given his Victorian-age education this can be forgiven of him. Weston takes us through his decision to leave his family and travel to Mexico, where he chronicles not only his own work, but that of other artists. He writes of the bullfights, love affairs, the scenery, and of the many unforgettable characters he met along the way. Weston moved in many circles, and thoroughly enjoyed himself, whether his company be artists or revolutionaries. He shares with the reader his many instances of self doubt, of guilt, and of poverty. He also shares his many triumphs, as his original photography begins to garner commercial success. We see Weston as an art critic, giving unflinching opinions of the works of Diego Rivera, Carlos Orozco, Robinson Jeffers, and a host of others. He is no less honest in his evaluation of his own work. Included in the volume are 72 extremely well-reproduced photographs divided into the various periods of his photographic life. We are givin a behind-the-scenes look at how these photographs were made, from both the artistic and the technical point of veiw. Most importantly, the Daybooks is not just for photographers or Weston afficianodos, but for anyone who appreciates a well-written autobiography of a remarkable artist.

Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston: A Passionate Collaboration

Average customer rating:

Good art, bad art history

Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston: A Passionate Collaboration
Beth Gates Warren
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393041573

Book Description

An examination of the personal and professional relationship between two important American photographers. Margrethe Mather has been remembered mostly through the commentary of fellow photographer Edward Weston, who referred to her as "the first important person" in his life. In fact, Mather was probably the greatest influence on the development of Weston's early career. They first met in 1913 and soon developed a close relationship, eventually working together as full-fledged artistic partners and even co-signing the photographs they produced. Weston was also madly in love with Mather, and the two engaged in a brief affair during his first marriage. This book, which features work by both artists, chronicles their twelve-year association and sheds light on Mather, whose artistry, sexual identity, and mysterious past were overshadowed by the massive reputation of Edward Weston and his subsequent association with Tina Modotti. 94 duotone photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Good art, bad art history.......2002-04-20

Almost nothing has been written on the pictorialist movement in California in the early 20th century, yet every well know photographer in California was active in it. This book is an imaginative look at one of the best and most mysterious practitioners. Mather and Weston found themselves in L.A. at the time in history when the movie industry was taking shape and a lot of creative and adventurous people came out here. This book captures some of that atmosphere.

Mather is interesting as a woman, as an artist and member of an eclectic group of West Coast artists, one of whom was Edward Weston with whom she worked and did other things for about 12 years. There is no question that they stimulated each other. Nothing could be less important except to get you to buy a book, I think.

Warren weakens Mather by linking her to Weston, trying to make the case that she influenced him. Her analysis is superficial to the point that her writing seems like an "infomercial". This is not surprising since the author used to work for an art auction house.

She would be far more informative if she had pointed out the differences between their approaches to the same subjects. Artists, particularly photographers of the place and time in question, met each other in clubs where they showed each other their work and talked about it. Everyone knew everyone and their influences helped define the differences between them. The Impressionists hung out together, the Dadaist hung out together as did almost every group or movement in art history. It is not informative for the author simply to restate this commonplace.

One of Mather's photographs of a boy wrapped in a kimono Warren compares with Weston's photograph of Tina Modotti in a kimono taken some years later. The subject is not new, and both photographs are wonderful but entirely different. Mather's is graphically 30 years ahead of its time, abstract, soft and easy.
Weston's is bold, sharp and explicit, and a dramatic break with pictorialism. It was probably influenced by Stieglitz, not Mather, according to those who wrote about Weston's meeting with Stieglitz. These two pictures, like many of the others Warren compares, are not even about the same thing.

In the end, this is a book about Edward Weston and not Mather. No new light is shed on either one of them, despite the huge bibliography of reference material. Not all of the works listed support Warren's case but she never mentions this of course.

There is a lot of art in this biography but not much art history. The photographs are well selected and presented. Margrethe Mather made some exceptional photographs which brought her a just amount of fame.

Mather's personal life would make a good movie. She was beautiful, talented and led a mysterious life which ended somewhat tragically. She died unknown mostly because she wanted to, and that is an important part of her story which Warren explores in this book.

Warren is working on a longer treatment of Mather. Hopefully she will pay more attention to the substance of the artist's work and her personal life and distract us less with her association with Weston.

This book is graphically rich and stimulating food for thought. Buy if for the art and dig up some of the material referred to in the footnotes.

Average customer rating:

A Weston Must-Have

The first time

Best Overall Volume of Edward Weston's Work

Best Overall Volume of Edward Weston's Work

good homepage

Edward Weston: Forms of Passion
Gilles Mora
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Weston, Edward | ( V-Z ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Edward Weston: The Form of Nude (Monographs)

Edward and Brett Weston: Dune

The World's Top Photographers: Nudes: And the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images (The World's Top Photographers)

The Photographer's Eye

Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes

ASIN: 0810939797

Customer Reviews:

A Weston Must-Have.......2001-10-18

Anyone curious about Weston or wanting to own a representative selection of his work should buy this book. This IS Weston. This is not a few selected prints of his on a single theme, this is a wide representation of the best of Weston's work. One will find for oneself that ALL of Weston's pictures are about passion, that's what makes a picture a Weston. Here in this book are beautifully reproduced plates of his finest images, every one exuding shape and energy, and exquisite composition, none just ordinary. There are images of factories, fields, sand, wood and also the human body, all of which have been captured in all its glory by Weston. He teaches us that there is energy, art and passion in an amazing number of ways. Don't miss this fine book.

The first time.......2001-09-21

It was a nude Weston's photo of Tina Modoti, layed down on a rural house floor, in México, that had put me on the trail of both. Since then I've been delighted with the sensibility and the astonishing "color" of the B&W photos of them, nudes bodies, "nude" nature, what ever... It was the first time, almost ten years ago.

Best Overall Volume of Edward Weston's Work.......2001-07-01

Review Summary: Edward Weston was trained as a portrait photographer and expanded his vision to include many natural shapes, including seashells, nudes, vegetables, trees, landscapes, and eroded rocks. He also did a little industrial photography, where the forms he saw also revealed pure shapes of interest to him. These shapes usually had a modernist feel to them that brings to mind Plato's theory of forms, pure ideas behind what we see every day. This book is fine overview of all phases of Mr. Weston's career, and contains many interesting and valuable essays about his career. The book is improved by having over 80 images that had not been published before this volume. The 320 duotone images are on very fine paper and are extremely well reproduced. Many would have benefited from being printed in larger sizes. If you decide to own only one book of Edward Weston's work, I suggest you choose this one.

Viewer Caution: This book contains many nude images of women, men and children that would surpass what would allow the material to obtain an R rating as a motion picture.

Review: Edward Weston's photography reveals a personal fascination with form, shape and shadow that provide a unique vision into the natural world. He was especially intrigued to see how the shapes of one object or subject could complement another. For example, his female nudes are often posed outdoors in sand dunes or beach settings where the gentle curves play off of one another. Where he focuses on eroded rocks, each one combines with another to express the equivalent of an abstract sculpture, standing out exposed by the erosion around the harder rock that forms the image.

While his landscapes could be every bit as majestic as Ansel Adams's best work, Weston's tastes and interests developed mostly independent of the leading photographers of his time. That independence gave him a greater versatility as a photographer and a more personal style. Few would mistake his ability to locate the patterns within nature and human-made objects for the work of any other photographer. To me, the artist closest to his vision was Georgia O'Keeffe.

My favorite images from this book include: Ruth Shaw, a portrait, 1922; Armco Steel, 1922; Nude, 1925; Dancer, 1927; Chambered Nautilus, 1927; Cypress, Point Lobos, 1929; Bedpan, 1930; Pepper, 1930; Soil Erosion, Carmel Valley, 1932; Church at "E" Town, 1933; Nude, 1935 (first one); Bug Tracks in Sand, 1935; Whale Vertebrae, 1934; Dunes, Oceano, 1936; Nude Series of Charis, Oceano, 1936; Zabriskie Point, 1937; Tree, Lake Tenaya, 1937; Point Lobos, 1940; Dillard King, Monteagle, Tennessee, 1941; Civilian Defense, 1941; and Nude, 1945.

While you look at these works, you will imagine that Edward Weston is at your side . . . pointing out details that you might not have noticed. His photography always has that character of being a reflection of his eye, rather than what the casual observer would naturally see. Both realities have equal validity, but your mind and eye will prefer Weston's.

In the biographical material, you will learn about his weakness for changing partners and how that helped to provide his muse. Many of the models for his female nudes are his lovers (including his second wife, Charis) and his nudes of children are of his son. His passion for Tina Modotti brought him to Mexico and helped draw his attention to many fascinating scenes.

After you finish enjoying this work, I suggest that you think about what inspires you. What would you be happiest and most proud being remembered for as your source of inspiration? How can you express yourself in more personal ways that show your most inner self?

May your passion inspire the goodness in others!

Best Overall Volume of Edward Weston's Work.......2001-07-01

Viewer Caution: This book contains many nude images of women, men and children that would surpass what would allow the material to obtain an R rating as a motion picture.

May your passion inspire the goodness in others!

good homepage.......1999-03-26

no commen

Edward Weston (Masters of Photography 7)

Average customer rating:

The Perfect Appetizer
Great Aperture Book
A Summation of a Spectacu

Edward Weston (Masters of Photography 7)
R. H. Cravens
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0893813052

Book Description

A towering figure in twentieth-century photography, Edward Weston sought to awaken human vision-- to lead viewers to "see through their eyes, not with them." His restless quest for beauty and the mystical presence behind it created a body of work unrivaled in the medium.

This volume of Aperture's Masters of Photography series offers Weston masterpieces drawn from photographs spanning more than four decades. Included are his early Pictorialist images; industrial studies of Armco Steel; stunning portraits from his Mexican period; the breakthrough still lifes and landscapes of the thirties; and the sometimes acerbic images of the later years.

R. H. Cravens's essay draws upon Weston's writings and recollections by sons, lovers, and friends. What emerges is the profile of "a thoroughly American genius-- courageous, pure, troubled, unorthodox, and utterly sure of its purpose."

The Aperture Masters of Photography series is devoted to those individuals whose achievements have accorded them vital importance in the history of the art form. Each volume presents a selection of the artist's greatest images. Published to Aperture's standard of excellence, the Masters of Photography series provides a comprehensive library of the artists who have shaped the medium.

Customer Reviews:

The Perfect Appetizer.......2004-07-04

The excellence of this small unassuming little gem alters the traditional photographs of Mexico in the 1920's. Edward Weston
saw a reality, a starkness and a purity in the daily Mexican life not often portrayed by the photographers of its own country. The romanticism
of his pictures make you want to become part of the experience. He, hand in hand with Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Tina Modotti. Mariana Yampolsky are part of a
post-war Modernism that embraced Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. I explored
all of the above as a result of this tiny little Aperture book. I recommend it to anyone with many or few dollars, the experience is overwhelming and speaks to you with passion. It leaves you wanting more......

Great Aperture Book.......2000-09-25

Wow, a photography book that you do not have to buy with a loan application or perfect credit. Weston was such a commanding presence in so many photographic fields, and this overview of his work is great. One quibble: I wish there had been better ties between the women in his life and the nudes featured here. Who was who? Also, his bio mentions the last photo he took, but does not include it. Other than that, great work by a great artist and a great inspiration.

A Summation of a Spectacu.......1999-03-26

If you were to only buy one of Edward Weston's books, this would be the one -- and for less then $10...

In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum (In Focus)

Average customer rating:

some timeless photos

In Focus: Edward Weston: Photographs From the J. Paul Getty Museum (In Focus)
Brett Abbott
Manufacturer: Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0892368098

Book Description

A seminal figure in the history of photography, Edward Weston (1886-1958) began his long and colorful career in Southern California. Among the more than fifty prints gleaned from the Getty Museum's important collection of approximately 240 works that span the photographer's career, this book
features pictures made in Claremont, Glendale, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and other locations in California and the U.S.
Weston wed machine-age aesthetics with vernacular subjects, pursuing Modernism as a way of seeing. He produced works of art using subject matter as wide-ranging as sea shells, green peppers, sand dunes and nudes, and he set a standard for elegant composition and print technique for generations of
photographers to come.
Commentaries on each of the featured works, as well as an introduction and chronology, are provided by Brett Abbott, curatorial assistant in the Getty Museum's Department of Photographs. A colloquium discussion on the artist's work includes Abbott's contributions as well as those of six other
participants: photographer William Clift; Amy Conger, author of Edward Weston: Photographs from the Collection of the Center for Creative Photography; David Featherstone, a freelance writer and editor; Weston Naef, curator of photographs at the Getty Museum; David Travis, curator of photography at
the Art Institute of Chicago; and Jennifer Watts, curator of photographs at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

Customer Reviews:

some timeless photos.......2007-07-06

The Getty Museum has been putting out this series of booklets, each on a noted artist or photographer. This item shows many photographs taken, or perhaps more fittingly, composed by Edward Weston. The Getty had amassed originals of many of his best works, only some of which are reproduced here. They were made from 1900-50. Some have a timeless quality. Often imbued with a deliberate haziness in the background.

The text that accompanies the photos provides a short biography of Weston's life, and a context to the photos.

Average customer rating:

A suburb read!
Sex

Edward Weston: His Life
Ben Maddow
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0893813699
Release Date: 2005-07-15

Book Description

One of modern photography's greatest pioneers, Edward Weston-whose work includes indelible images of nudes and peppers, rocks and shells, clouds and landscapes-awakened his viewers to the sensuous qualities of organic forms. In his extensive biography of Weston, which was nominated for a National Book Award, Ben Maddow draws heavily from Weston's uncut journals and letters, and from the reminiscences and written accounts of his closest friends and family, to reveal the man and artist behind the seemingly opaque formalism of the photographs.

Customer Reviews:

A suburb read!.......2005-06-23

I've read a lot of biographies in my life but nothing holds a candle to Maddow's "Edward Weston: His Life". The way Maddow weaves his words encourages the reader to exalt in the fine art of biography. In other words, Maddow's biography not only becomes a celebration of Weston's life and work but a celebration of the oeuvre itself. A suburb read!

Sex.......2004-02-12

A delicious read, passionate, imaginative and not very accurate. Maddow was obsessed with Weston's sex life but that may have helped Weston's fame and Maddow's sales.

Average customer rating:

Edward Weston in Mexico, 1923-1926
Amy Conger
Manufacturer: Univ of New Mexico Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0826306659

Supreme Instants: The Photography of Edward Weston

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Supreme Instants: The Photography of Edward Weston
Beaumont Newhall , and Edward Weston
Manufacturer: New York Graphic Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Edward Weston: Portraits
Susan Morgan , and Cole Weston
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0893816051
Release Date: 2005-06-15

Book Description

Weston spent the greatest part of his towering career setting a standard of photographic portraiture. Included are images of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Tina Modotti, and James Cagney. Together these photographs create a powerful volume that demands a fresh look at this central endeavor of his life's work.

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