A FINE BALANCE

N E W S A FI N E BA L A N C E

A beautiful new monograph marking 125 years since Edward Weston’s birth sheds new light on the great American photographer, revealing more about the man behind some of the most celebrated imagery since the medium’s inception. Anna Bonita Evans reports.

here’s no doubt that Edward

TWeston was one of the most inf luential photographers of the 20th century. Celebrated for his creativity, tonal contrast and remarkable ability to balance the real and the abstract – an approach he coined as Seeing Plus – Weston accelerated photography out of the Victorian age towards a modernist aesthetic.

This sumptuous new book published by Chronicle Chroma is a worthy tribute to the great photographer. Marking 125 years since his birth, the clothbound hardback holds 125 photographs paired with the same number of excerpts from Weston’s personal journals – or as he called them, daybooks. Again we enjoy reading about his pivotal role in Group f/64, his creative awakening in Mexico, his colourful love life, unwavering commitment to his sons, and how his career was cut short by his debilitating battle with Parkinson’s disease. Yet as well as the comprehensive chronological rundown, this book asks us to look again at the great American photographer.

While his classic studies have made an indelible mark on the photographic medium, it’s intriguing to see his images accompanied by his writing, which was stylistically quite different. Author Steve Crist uses the book format to his advantage and reveals more about the man behind the famous images of the peppers. By creatively partnering the photographer’s words and images on each double-page spread, we gain fresh insight and see how Weston approached the two mediums disparately. While Weston’s photographs are exceedingly beautiful, they have simplicity and are devoid of decoration. They are a stark contrast to his diaries, where there’s a forgivable weakness for an unduly romantic style.

Included in Crist’s introductory essay are scanned pages from Weston’s journals, where we see his wonderfully ornate handwriting and his love for mystery and secrecy. Take for example his retelling of his encounters with his many lovers, their names represented only by their initials or the letter X. There are many passages readers will enjoy, including those where Weston exclaims his astonishment at his irresistible attraction to women: ‘What have I, that bring these many women to offer themselves to me? I do not go out of my way seeking them – I am not a

stalwart virile male, exuding sex, nor am I the romantic, mooning poet-type some love, nor the dashing Don Juan bent on conquest.’ His optimism and good humour, however, excuse his fussy prose and make for fascinating reading of the ever-changing, restless life of an artist.

he most illuminating passages

Tare those where he articulates his photographic practice. Detailing his democratic approach towards his subject matter and his focus on finding the unusual in the commonplace, it’s interesting to recognise how these ideas still permeate a photographer’s consciousness today. Weston writes: ‘When making a portrait, my approach is quite the same as when I am portraying a rock. I do not wish to impose my personality upon the sitter, but, keeping myself open to receive reactions from his own special ego, record this with nothing added.’

While his daybooks are revelatory, the reproductions of his photographs here are – in all senses of the word – celebratory. Laying testament to Weston’s meticulous approach (there is a wonderful quote where he implores his son to walk through the house lightly and keeps the windows shut for fear of a slight breeze), the tonal quality and density of the ink so thick it almost seems in relief, echoing the softness and sensibility Weston is remembered for. This is a fascinating, inspiring, revelatory book, shedding light on one of the world’s most well-known and respected image-makers.

‘W hen making a portrait, my approach is quite the same as when I am portraying a rock.’

Opposite Legs in Hammock, 1937. Photograph by Edward Weston. Top right Winter Idyll, Big Sur, 1945. Photograph by Edward Weston. Below right Nude, 1936. Photograph by Edward Weston.

Edward Weston with photographs by Edward Weston and an introduction by Steve Crist is published by Chronicle Chroma. The linen cloth-bound hardback is £26.