Edward Weston

Edward Weston was never much of an orthodox type of man or photographer. His interests laid in astrology, occultism, nudism and vegetarianism. He led a very exotic life made of interesting travels, amazing sights and sensual lovers; extensive exposure to other brilliant artists; and a decade's work on erotic vegetables. The latter being one of the most unusual and inspiring artistic highlights of the 20th century.

When Weston saw a modern art exhibit in 1915, he said it inspired him to begin creating sharp realistic pictures that convey the beauty of nature objects through composition and subtleties of tone, light and texture. This was the beginning of his move from pictorialism. (Answers.com Encyc. Brit.) This was also during the time that he met nude model, Margarethe Mather who, like most of Weston's nudes, became his lover. Weston wrote in his daybooks that she was the 'first important person in my life.' (Oakland Tribune) Later, in the 1920s, during the era of famous photographs: Pepper #30 and Pepper #31, Weston was searching for sculptural forms in nature. He concentrated on the underlying order in natural forms, and was drawn to finding the pattern, texture and lines in his photography. (clemusart.com) Weston saw his work with peppers as simply that. He journals that it's a 'classic and satisfying pepper - but it was more than a pepper.' He writes that it is 'abstract in that it's completely outside subject matter.' For Weston, it had no 'psychological attributes and no human emotions were aroused,' (Daybooks 2 pg. 181)

A number of critics and other artists, past and present, have expressed their diverse viewpoints and emotional responses to these awe inspiring still-lifes. Curator of Photography for Oakland Museum of California, Drew Heath Johnson, explained that Edward Weston's work is divided into six major phases and themes: early work (pictorialism) and Mexico, Point Lobos and the coast, portraits, still-lifes, nudes and landscapes. (Oakland) A large majority of viewers envision his most notable images of vegetables as resembling and imitating his most sensuous nudes. (The Getty) Art critic, Susan Sontag, said in Time Magazine, "The peppers Weston photographed are voluptuous in a way that his nudes are. In fact, he made nude photography respectable." (Oxford Press) Weston mastered his view of high modernism between 1927 and 1937. This work closely imitated enticing paintings and sculptures. "His peppers, with rounded shoulders and seductive hip lines; nudes reduced to near abstractions." (query.nytimes.com) Perhaps further study of this harmony in Weston's art reveals that his passions existed in universal life rhythms and the close relationship between basic lines and forms that accompany everything in nature. (The Getty)

Even today, museums frequently have exhibits of his work to further study the congruency that lies in his erotic still-lifes and sensuous nudes. Pepper #30 proves his confidence and exceptional eye. The twisting three dimensional of the pepper is accentuated by the inspired lighting. Weston makes it possible to see the pepper both in its own right and as something more than a pepper. (EW Life Work) Johnson spoke on the close similarities saying, "People often say his vegetables look like nudes and his nudes look like vegetables." (Oakland Tribune.) In today's standards, Pepper #30 would be considered 'vintage' and difficult to find one that is similar. The lumps and folds of his vegetables are so similar to the human figure with its luscious skin. Some may think this photograph is a simple one, but on the contrary, the quality of light and his long exposures would be a challenge to decipher and recreate.(miamiartexchange.) Still, a more recent Weston admirer, Janet Malcome from the New York Review of Books, expanded the possibilities further when she claimed that his erotic and artistic activities were 'tightly interwoven'. She comments that it is impossible to write on one without the other. (nytimes.com)

Perhaps the most unexpected, yet revealing review of Edward Weston's work came from Weston himself. He wrote that painters and Mexican muralists were more of an influence on his work than other photographers. (counterpunch.com) He claims that if there are sexual connotations is his photography, it was certainly unintentional. (OxfordPress) Recorded in his daybooks, he questions the possibility of any other theory, "I had made peppers into something they were not, - whether in this case phallic symbols entered in I don't know, but I hope some new note was struck...I chose unusually strong and beautiful peppers to photograph...because I see more than a housewife who picks commonplace peppers for stuffing, so I have in some way violated these poor peppers!" (EW Life Work)

When tasked with researching Edward Weston, I could not just look at his photographs and inspect his technique. I found myself examining his life from an outsider's view, studying his experiences, possible influences and his own written word. It seems that his view of the world and the choices of subjects in his photography were shaped by his life, loves and extraordinary experiences. I definitely notice the similarly flowing lines, shades and shapes in both his vegetables and his nudes. It is apparent to me that his habit of keeping several lovers over his whole lifetime, was driven by his intense sexual obsessions. It is quite probable that these urges also show through the majority of his most gratifying photographs.

Weston first married, and began a family with Flora Chandler in 1909. It was during this time that he met esteemed photographers, Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand, and decided to move away from the pictorialist style of putting subjects in soft focus. (Los Angeles) Not long after Weston began moving toward modernism, he met Tina Modotti, a voluptuous Italian actress who became his nude model, and later, the woman for whom he left his wife.(The Getty) In 1923, the two moved to Mexico together, where his work took on dramatic transformations. His series of nudes of a naked Modotti took on a sensuous and realistic human form. (counterpunch.org) Modotti facilitated Weston's introduction to Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera, who was enthused about Weston's work. (The Getty) At the time, Weston was working with extreme close-ups of isolated nude body segments; he also encountered Jose Clemente Orozco, another influential artist. (answers.com - encyc.) As Weston drew on other artistic peers and photographers for inspiration, he also became more influenced by the mexican culture and landscapes, thus changing his compositions into something between a portrait and a figure study. He used this influence to form his own version of modernism-based-in-reality.