ddunn
John
I went to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha on Tuesday to see the Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life exhibit. Very, very impressive and well worth seeing. And, for me, surprising in several ways.
The exhibit has about 130 photos (including family snapshots), along with letters and postcards. It comes from a donation to the Dayton Art Museum from Weston's great nephew, Jack Longstreth, of cards, letters, and photographs Weston sent to his sister Mary. When she died, the trove went to her daughter, Jean. In her old age, Jack became her caretaker, and found the materials stored on the floor of a bedroom closet. He shipped them from Glendale to his home for safekeeping. Added to this are Weston prints Jack acquired over the years.
The first surprise to me was Weston's close and enduring attachment to his sister. He sent her a card or letter almost daily over the years. He also enclosed prints of photographs--you can see the fold marks on several of them. (I practically had a stroke when I saw the first folded print--fold a Weston! My God!--then found out he had done the folding).
The second surprise to me was realizing that his Pictorialism continued longer than I thought it had. Even after returning from Mexico, he was still occasionally taking photographs in the Pictorial mode.
The third surprise was seeing a significant number of photos that I had never seen before. Weston has long been one of my favorites, although in recent years I've gotten jaded seeing the same photos over and over. The new ones reinvigorated my liking of him.
The fourth surprise was seeing 10 color Kodachromes that no one knew existed. These are from 1947, so they are among the last photos he took.
The last surprise for me was seeing some actual contact prints of his cat photographs, and realizing that he used his Graflex, not just the 8 X 10, for them. Either way, it's no mean feat to photograph cats, as those of us with the cat avatars will testify. Seek out a copy of The Cats of Wildcat Hill to see more.
Of course, seeing original prints, not reproductions, is always rewarding.
The exhibit runs through August 13 & is well worth the trip if you're anywhere nearby. If not you can get a copy of the catalog from the Dayton Art Museum:
http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/c...=CTGY&Store_Code=TDAI&Category_Code=Catalogue
The paperback is $29.95 and includes all but 2 of the photos in the exhibit.
The exhibit has about 130 photos (including family snapshots), along with letters and postcards. It comes from a donation to the Dayton Art Museum from Weston's great nephew, Jack Longstreth, of cards, letters, and photographs Weston sent to his sister Mary. When she died, the trove went to her daughter, Jean. In her old age, Jack became her caretaker, and found the materials stored on the floor of a bedroom closet. He shipped them from Glendale to his home for safekeeping. Added to this are Weston prints Jack acquired over the years.
The first surprise to me was Weston's close and enduring attachment to his sister. He sent her a card or letter almost daily over the years. He also enclosed prints of photographs--you can see the fold marks on several of them. (I practically had a stroke when I saw the first folded print--fold a Weston! My God!--then found out he had done the folding).
The second surprise to me was realizing that his Pictorialism continued longer than I thought it had. Even after returning from Mexico, he was still occasionally taking photographs in the Pictorial mode.
The third surprise was seeing a significant number of photos that I had never seen before. Weston has long been one of my favorites, although in recent years I've gotten jaded seeing the same photos over and over. The new ones reinvigorated my liking of him.
The fourth surprise was seeing 10 color Kodachromes that no one knew existed. These are from 1947, so they are among the last photos he took.
The last surprise for me was seeing some actual contact prints of his cat photographs, and realizing that he used his Graflex, not just the 8 X 10, for them. Either way, it's no mean feat to photograph cats, as those of us with the cat avatars will testify. Seek out a copy of The Cats of Wildcat Hill to see more.
Of course, seeing original prints, not reproductions, is always rewarding.
The exhibit runs through August 13 & is well worth the trip if you're anywhere nearby. If not you can get a copy of the catalog from the Dayton Art Museum:
http://www.daytonartinstitute.org/c...=CTGY&Store_Code=TDAI&Category_Code=Catalogue
The paperback is $29.95 and includes all but 2 of the photos in the exhibit.
