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Lauren Mauretti

Mrs. B

Photo

5/17/17

Edward Weston

Edward Weston captures more than just a simple image, he captures a story. Weston started his

photography career when his father bought him a Bull’s Eye #2 camera for his birthday. His pictures

show an abstract view of objects and shows real detail in the most ordinary things. He is also very well

known for his portrait pictures. He influences me as a photographer in a way that shows me that

photography has no limits, even the most simple things can be captured to make beautiful art. Edward

Weston started as just a kid with a camera and worked his way up to being famous.

Weston was born on March 24, 1886 in Illinois. He grew up in Chicago and attended Oakland

Grammar school for his early years. After receiving his first camera from his father he began taking

pictures of the parks in Chicago and of his aunt's farm. In 1906 he published his first picture in Camera

and Darkroom. After his first publishment he moved to California to further his photography career.

Weston went from door to door taking pictures of everything he could, Children, Pets and Funerals. In

1908 he moved to Illinois and furthered his education at Illinois College of Photography. There he

completed a 12 month program in 6 months. After he received his education he moved back to california

and began working in a studio taking portrait pictures. He later opened his own portrait studio in 1911, in

Tropico, California. Weston was mostly known for his soft-focus pictorial style and that is what started

his success. In 1912 he met Margrethe Mather and she became his assistant and model. She was a very

strong influence on Weston. He began to take more abstract pictures after he visited ARMCO Steel Plant

in Middletown Ohio and that was the real turning point of his career. In 1923 he went to Mexico and took

most of his portraits and nudes. Later he went back to California and really became famous for his nature

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forms, close-ups, nudes and landscapes. His most famous collection was taken between 1927-1930. It was

a monumental series of Seashells, Peppers and Halved Cabbages. He got diagnosed with parkinson’s

disease his last photo of Point Lobos. In 1946 the Museum of Modern Art in New York featured 300 of

his photos. He died on January 1, 1957 in California. His ashes were spread into the Pacific Ocean on

Pebbly Beach at Point Lobos (Edward).

The first picture that I recreated is called Nautilus Shell. It was taken in Glendale, California in

1927. This image is of a nautilus shell from the view of the top so that you can see all of the little details

that are inside of the shell. This is a Gelatin Silver Print and is in the collection Shells. This collection

consists of 27 different pictures of shells. Weston became interested in taking pictures of shells because

he met a california painter Henrietta Shore whom he worked for that painted many shells. It shows the

message that everything looks different from a different perspective and that although it is just an

ordinary shell it is shown captures as so much more. Weston conveys this message well because

throughout the collection he shows the same shells in different views and angles to really emphasize of

the fact that they all are different. It influences me as a photographer to look at things from different

perspectives to see the bigger picture (Tate).

(Original) (Recreation)

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The second picture I recreated is called Church Doors, Hornitos. THis picture was taken in 1940

and is a Gelatin Silver Print. It was later printed by Cole Weston in 1951. This picture was taken in

Hornitos, California. The message of this picture is that the church is always is there are it always is open

to everyone who may need it. This influences me as a photographer to make things that might be very

simple have a deeper meaning and be better for other people (Church).

(Recreation) (Original)

The third picture that I recreated is called Pepper No. 30. This picture was taken in 1930 and was

the last of the 30 image pepper collection. This is Weston's favorite pepper out of all of them. It shows off

all of its curves and imperfects and smooth skin. The message of this picture is that everything has flaws

and isn't perfect and that is okay and isn't always a bad thing. This influences me as a photographer to

show the flaws in some of my pictures and that everything doesn't always have to be perfect.

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(Original) (Recreation)

The last picture that i recreated is called Halved Artichoke. This is a picture of the middle of an

artichoke and it shows all of the details inside it. This is a Gelatin Silver Print. The message of this picture

is to show the detail on the inside and show that even though something might look so simple it can be so

much more complex on the inside. This taught me as a photographer to really emphasize on the details

and make the picture show more than it actually is (Edward).

(Recreation) (Original)

In conclusion, Edward Weston is an amazing photographer that took great pictures. He really did

a great job taking the image and making it more than it actually was. He made the simplest little things

seem like the most complex and intriguing things (Edward).

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Works Cited

"Church Door, Hornitos (Getty Museum)." The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970.

Web. 17 May 2017.

"Edward Weston." Edward-weston.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Edward Weston | Artichoke, Halved (1930) | Available for Sale | Artsy." Artsy - Discover,

Research, and Collect the World's Best Art Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30, 1930." SFMOMA. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

Tate. "'Shells', Edward Weston, 1927, printed later." Tate. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.