Message from discussion E. Weston'a Mexican photos

Path: g2news1.google.com!news2.google.com!npeer03.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!nx01.iad01.newshosting.com!newshosting.com!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!feeder.erje.net!feeder.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!not-for-mail
From: ColinD <nos...@nowhere.com>
Newsgroups: alt.photography
Subject: Re: E. Weston'a Mexican photos
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:12:00 +1200
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 48
Message-ID: <h2u7d5$2bu$1@news.eternal-september.org>
References: <fs6455handb5d6ejcd2pur1nqh9dug7954@4ax.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Trace: news.eternal-september.org U2FsdGVkX1/xSMh+JwdChx/Pf0SwkyG3JaXma0QCbuNSlK7oFRjn6sdh/a2h6N+Dj9hUYo8MDDhrZbKn+QmPk65QUGxQ2aAydOpB8Fo/XeI/jNIA/eDr94qAhy6vOYhy5pJKGNKUxiM=
X-Complaints-To: abuse@eternal-september.org
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 01:12:06 +0000 (UTC)
In-Reply-To: <fs6455handb5d6ejcd2pur1nqh9dug7954@4ax.com>
X-Auth-Sender: U2FsdGVkX19dVu3ZZmOolK9smGpa7PuRT+s3eMcwb5k=
Cancel-Lock: sha1:0Hqeo+N/79BGqkLdqGHV/eTBaKY=
User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.22 (Windows/20090605)

Robert Coe wrote:
> The other day my wife and I went into Boston to see the
> Titian-Tintoretto-Veronese exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. On the way from
> the Huntington Avenue entrance to the Gund Gallery we went through an exhibit
> of Edward Weston's photographs, from a trip he took to Mexico in the 1920s,
> accompanied by his son and his mistress, who was also a photographer. So of
> course we stopped to look.
> 
> For the most part, we found the pictures disappointing. They were all B&W,
> which was fine, but the prints were generally muddy and the composition
> adequate but uninspired - not what you'd expect from someone of Weston's
> reputation. I was in an uncharacteristically charitable mood, being in the
> first day of a four-day weekend. (We Americans are celebrating the founding of
> our country.) So I was quite willing to chalk it up to the relatively mediocre
> state of photography in 1925.
> 
> But just before the exit from the exhibit was a picture of an aloe plant that
> was nicely composed and cleanly printed; we both blurted out "Now THIS I
> like!". But when we read the caption, we discovered that the picture wasn't a
> Weston at all: it was the only one in the exhibit taken by his mistress!  ;^)
> 
> BTW, the T-T-V exhibit is well worth seeing. Its only stop after Boston is the
> Louvre; but if you live in or around Paris, you might want to check it out. It
> closes here at the end of August, so should presumably be there in the fall.
> 
> Bob

The prints are all black/white because Weston worked from 1902 through 
to the forties, and color photography was unknown through most of his 
career.

Edward Weston's images are somewhat enigmatic.  They do not have the 
instant artistic appeal or larger-scale imagery of Ansel Adam's works. 
They are more introspective, as was Weston himself.  If you read some of 
the books and biographies about Weston, you get a picture of an 
intensely introspective person, whose work with Nautilus shells (1927) 
and peppers (1930), rocks and tree buttresses showed a drive for 
perfection in pure photography.  His famous peppers was shot at least 30 
times before he was satisfied.

Have a look at http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa238.htm and if possible 
get hold of a book, 'Edward Weston, photographer' by Gordon Fraser, 
edited by Nancy Newhall, for an insight into one of America's greatest 
photographers.

--

Colin D.