Edward Weston: His Life

by Ben Maddow, Edward Weston (Photographer)

One of modern photography's greatest pioneers, Edward Weston awakened his viewers to the sensuous qualities of organic forms. In this biography Ben Maddow draws heavily on Weston's uncut journals and letters and on the reminiscences and written accounts of his closest friends and family to reveal the man behind the opaque formalism of the photographs.

Genres: Photography, Biography, Art, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Ruzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Weston was a pretty interesting guy. I wish he discussed more about his feelings on light, beauty, etc. The book largely, and his writings, focus on his romantic adventures. he was never without a lover it seems.

A good read for photographers. whom, i think will be particularly crushed by the watching his health decline to the point where he can only watch the light and beauty--but no longer make his body work well enough to capture it.

in many ways he got to live a sort of dream existence where he defined the bounds of his experience to large extent, but a good portion of that was an expression of selfishness. additionally, it was an expression of his ability to ignore the fact that his life was largely made possible by a woman he clearly had no respect for. That rich wife in waiting who cut him cheques from time to time to keep him going.

i'd be almost as interested to read a biography of her experience. It seems her motivations were more complex, and subtle than his. Her continued support of him despite his many lovers, her general abandonment by him, and many other things make her an interesting and pivotal character in the story of the edward weston legacy.

[Lasse Blond · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I am having another reaction - from my statement that I could go through life with one woman! Ridiculous thought! Imagine never again having the thrill of courting - the conquest - new lips to find - new bodies to caress. It would be analogous to making my last print - nailing it to the wall forever - seeing it there - until I would despise it or no longer notice it was there. No! - let me stay free!" (p. 81) - and so he did both artistically, spiritually and mentally till he died from Parkinson's disease on the last Day of 1958. We get an intimate looks into the thought and creativity of one of the greatest photographers, however, the Ben Maddow seems to have had a special interest in Weston's numerous love affairs going into great details with these to the point of boring the reader. We get that these affairs inspired him, but you also wonder if there was not much more to this great artist that could and should have been emphasized?

[Bob Peru · Rating 4 out of 5]

weston liked women. a lot.