A Beautiful World | Part II: Brett Weston

PETER FETTERMAN

A BEAUTIFUL WORLD:PART

The power of photography lies in its ability to ignite emotions across barriers of language and culture. This selection of 120 unique and heartening photographs from the 20th century, compiled by pioneering collector and gallerist Peter Fetterman, offers an inspiring overview of the medium while paying homage to masters of the art, from the bizarre Boschian fantasies of Melvin Sokolsky to the haunting humanity of Ansel Adams’s family portraits, from Miho Kajioka’s interpretation of traditional Japanese aesthetics to the joyful everyday scenes of Evelyn Hofer; each photograph speaks of tranquillity, peace, and hope for the future. The Power of Photography by Peter Fetterman is available through the Peter Fetterman Gallery as well as through all good bookshops, worldwide. ISBN: 978-178884-122-1

The Power of Nature: A Beautiful World January 14th – April 1st 2023

PART II: BRETT WESTON

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Brett Weston seemed destined at birth to become one of America’s most prolific photographers. Born in 1911, the second son of photographer Edward Weston, Brett had a camera in hand by the age of thirteen. A lot of people assume that Brett merely followed in his father’s footsteps into a career as a photographer, but that’s far from true. From the late 1920’s until his father’s death in the 1950’s, their careers ran parallel to each other’s. Brett in fact first discovered the Oceano Dunes, where he would later take his father to create some of the elder Weston’s most significant work. Brett appreciated how the camera could transform subjects and how the contrast of black and white further altered the recognition of a subject. Thus, it is not difficult to understand his tendency to abstraction, a characteristic that would remain an important aspect of his work for his almost seventy year career. Brett didn’t concern himself with subject matter as much as he did with form and light. He could turn the mundane into the magical and the most ugly of subject matter into beautiful photographs. “Reeds, Oregon” is one of Brett’s most lyrical photographs. The vertical arrangement of lines appears to be a musical score, which makes your eye dance around the surface of the photograph. The image has no focal point; rather the whole photograph becomes the focal point. You appreciate the photograph not for the subject but rather for what it truly is, a tangible object of beauty to see and hold.

Brett Weston 1911-1993 Reeds, Oregon, 1969 (Vintage) Signed and dated in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 7.5”x9.5”, Mounted - 13”x15”, Matted - 16”x20” (9860)

“The camera for an artist is just another tool. It is no more mechanical than a violin if you analyze it. Beyond the rudiments, it is up to the artist to create art, not the camera.”

~ Brett Weston

You can stare across a room and immediately notice a Brett Weston photograph. It certainly has a distinct look to it which takes years and years of intense dedication to a now often increasingly rare analogue craft. He was notorious for going to bed at 8pm and commencing his solitary darkroom practice at 3-4am most of his life, when he was not en route to another location.He paired his life down to its essential simplicity so he could concentrate on his art, something he learnt from his equally dedicated father Edward Weston. Close throughout their lives Brett developed his own strong photographic vision and voice.Unlike Edward, Brett ventured outside of America in search of new challenges. He traveled extensively in Europe and to Japan but it was in Holland that he created one of his most celebrated and sought after images.This at first glance seems like a traditional landscape but in Brett’s hands with his ability to present a deep space along a misty canal with the trees lining its banks receding in short rows into the distance, he turns it into a dream that envelops the viewer and takes them on this special journey.

Brett Weston 1911-1993 Holland Canal, 1971 Signed and dated in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 10”x12.75”, Mount - 15”x18”, Matted - 20”x24” (9915)

$15,000

“Nature is a great artist, the greatest. I’ve seen rocks and forms that put Matisse, Picasso and Brancusi to shame. You can’t beat Mother Nature.”

~ Brett Weston

Brett Weston 1911-1993

Landscape, Germany, 1960 (Printed later)

Signed and dated in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 7.5”x9.5”, Mounted - 13”x15”, Matted - 16”x20” (9857)

Unlike many photographers who have left us long treatises about the meaning of their work and their practices Brett was a man of very few words. He let his images speak for themselves which is one of the reasons I respect him so much.There are very few places on earth that have such splendor and beauty as the Big Sur Coast. It has been a much visited and photographed locale. But few have managed to capture its essence as well as Brett did here.

Brett Weston 1911-1993

Big Sur, CA, 1965 (Vintage) Signed and dated in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 7.5”x9.5”, Mounted - 13”x15”, Matted - 16”x20” (9858)

“I’m not a verbal person. Look at my work and decide for yourself. It’s hard to put it into words.”

~ Brett Weston

Some of Brett’s greatest work was his dunes series. It suited his work style like a glove. He was an early riser. Mornings were best for photographing sand dunes. The cool of night calms the wind and the air is at its clearest and there was no one else around to disturb his peace and concentration. Light meant photography and for Brett there was only photography or the anticipation of photography. That was his life, plain and simple.

Brett Weston 1911-1993 Dunes, Shoshone, CA, 1968 Signed and dated in pencil on recto. Titled on verso. Gelatin Silver Print Image - 7.5”x9.5”, Mount - 13”x15”, Matted - 16”x20” (9890)

“Beyond the rudiments, it is up to the artist to create art, not the camera.”

~ Brett Weston

Brett Weston 1911-1993

Dunes, Baja California, 1968 (Printed 1968)

Signed and dated in pencil on recto

Vintage Gelatin Silver Print Image - 7.5x9.5”, Mount - 13”x15”, Matted - 16”x20” (9898)

~ Brett

Brett had a pretty simple artistic process. He used large format cameras, insisted on pre visualizing final images before exposure and produced immaculate prints. What is impossible to articulate is all the long hours he put into thinking about the work and executing the final print. That is why very few photographers have ever come close to achieving what he achieved during his long and productive career. He destroyed the majority of his negatives on his 80th Birthday as he did not want anyone to print from them after his passing. This “act” was very controversial at the time but one has to respect his decision. He was an artist who had certainly paid his dues and had the right to follow his own path even up to the end as he had done his whole life.

Brett Weston 1911-1993 Trees, CA, 1968 (Printed 1970’s) Signed in pencil on mount recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 11”x14”, Matted - 16”x20” (BW19-16)

“My work is my language and I don’t discuss it very easily. It’s difficult for me to verbalize my feelings or to intellectualize my work”

Weston

Brett lived his life broken down to the essentials. Early to bed, early to rise. Living simply. Some bread and cheese here, some figs and nuts there to keep his energy up whilst he was working. All for his precious time in the darkroom where his creations really came alive and his printing prowess was displayed creating some the most beautiful prints in the history of the medium.

Brett Weston 1911-1993 Inlet, Japan, 1970 (Vintage) Signed and dated in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 10.5”x13.5”, Mounted - 15”x18”, Matted - 16”x20” (9862)

“An artist has to have a strong ego. He has to be enamored with his work. His art has to be the most important thing in his life.”

~ Brett Weston

Brett Weston 1911-1993

Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico, 1973 (Printed 1970’s)

Signed in pencil on mount recto

Gelatin Silver Print Image - 16”x20”, Matted - 24”x30” (BW19-22)

Born in London, Peter Fetterman has been deeply involved in the medium of photography for over 40 years. Initially a filmmaker and collector, he set up his first gallery over 30 years ago in 1988. He was one of the pioneer tenants of Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Center of the Arts when it first opened in 1994.

The gallery has one of the largest inventories of classic 20th Century photography in the country particularly in humanist photography.

Diverse holdings include work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Steve McCurry, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Willy Ronis, André Kertesz, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Lillian Bassman, Pentti Sammallahti, Sarah Moon and Jeffrey Conley.

Peter and his colleagues are committed to promoting the awareness and appreciation of the most powerful of the mediums in an intimate, user-friendly salon environment.

All images are © The Artist or their Estate, courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery, and may not be reproduced without express permission. All rights reserved.