Personal Background
Edward Weston was born on March 24, 1886 and died on January 1, 1958. He lived in Point Labos, California for many years, but was actually born in Chicago and moved to California when he was 21 years old. Weston photographed landscapes, still-lifes, nudes, portraits, genre scenes, and whimsical parodies. In 1937 he became the first photographer to receive a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. However, after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1947 he stopped photographing.
Style
Weston pioneered a modernist style of photography. He used an 8x10" view camera for most of his work, but for some portraits and nudes he used a Graflex camera. He liked to create "sharply focused and richly detailed black and white photographs". He often isolated his subjects against a dark background and captured harsh shadows. This gave his photos a more moody and intimate feel to them.
Philosophy
Weston's photos were focused towards "expressing the new American lifestyle and aesthetic that emerged from California and the West between the two world wars". He portrayed this through his photography with the sharp black and white photos that incorporated lots of detail. Weston also promoted straight photography, as well as his daybooks; in these, he kept track of his artistic growth. This "helped cement photography's place as a legitimate modern artistic medium". His work was influential to an "entire generation of American photographers".
Influences
During 1923-1926, Weston lived in Mexico City and was "part of an international milieu of creative minds attracted by the post-revolutionary of political activists and artists". These artists included, but were not limited to, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Tina Modotti. In 1932, himself, his son, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and some other Bay Area photographers formed a group called Group f/64. They named their group this, because f/64 is the aperture setting on a lens that was used to get the "sharpest focus in a photograph." The group claimed to be "like-minded realists" who "promoted a style of sharply detailed, purist photography".
Personal Artist Statement
I found that researching Weston's life was actually pretty fun. He's a well-known photographer who did a lot of work for the world of photography. I found many different articles about his life and what he accomplished, proving just how influential he was. I find it pretty inspiring that photographers can spark so much change.
Resources
https://www.britannica.com/art/Group-f64
https://www.edward-weston.com/
https://www.westongallery.com/original-works-by/edward-weston
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-weston-2720
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/edward-weston?all/all/all/all/0
https://www.edward-weston.com/
https://www.westongallery.com/original-works-by/edward-weston
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-weston-2720
https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/edward-weston?all/all/all/all/0