World Photography Master - Weston

Author: Weston
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-06-01
Features: Edward Weston was born in 1886 in a not very wealthy family near Chicago, USA. In his teens, he walked 10 miles to school every day to save every penny for a camera. At the age of 16, Weston finally fulfilled his dream and bought an old camera for $11. His first work was a snowscape taken in Chicago's Washington Park. When the photo was first printed, he was extremely happy and even trembled with excitement. A few days later, as his emotions calmed down, he realized the photo wasn't perfect enough—the trees were too dark, the snow too white, and it lacked layers. To pursue the perfect ideal he envisioned, Weston embarked on a long 46-year exploration in the field of photographic art. It wasn't until 1948, when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, that he had to put down his camera.
The distinctive feature of Weston's photographic creation is its freshness, directness, naturalness, and simplicity. In the 1920s, the field of photographic art was dominated by the painting style. At the age of his thirties, Weston went against the grain. He opposed blindly imitating painting without considering the unique characteristics of photography. He demanded rich layers and clear contrasts in his photos, advocating the portrayal of the natural beauty of subjects. Freshness, directness, naturalness, and simplicity are the hallmarks of Weston's photographic art, earning him the title of a "gentle lover of nature" in the history of world photography.
Weston's creative scope wasn't fixed—portraits, factories, lakes and mountains, sand dunes, stones and shells, withered old trees, even chili peppers and Chinese cabbage, all frequently appeared in his works. He said, "Anything that moves me, for whatever reason, I photograph it. I don't specifically seek out unusual subjects but aim to transform the ordinary into extraordinary works!" The more than 30 representative works of Weston collected in this book perfectly reflect the breadth of his themes and the uniqueness of his style.