Edward Weston: Nudes

by Charis Wilson, Jessica Stockholder (Artist), Edward Weston (Photographer)

Edward Weston was born in Highland Park, Illinois, in 1886, and began his career as a door-to-door portrait photographer in 1906. After a spell in Mexico City during the early 1920s--where he ran a studio with Tina Modotti--he moved to California and commenced the work for which he is most close-ups of nature, nudes and landscapes. This volume celebrates Weston's nudes, of which Hilton Kramer “To Weston's eye... the landscape of the human body was an unending revelation of forms both voluptuous and abstract. His genius as an artist lay in his ability to respond to both with equal passion.”

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Helen Charis Wilson, most widely known as a subject of Edward Weston photographs, was a model and writer.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

My hardcover edition was published in 1977. Beautifully printed photographs of Weston's nude work. There is a nice essay by Charis Wilson as well as some pieces written by Weston including letters and passages from his "daybooks".
An essential reference book for anyone who appreciates Weston's work and the emerging of photography as a distinct art medium.
The documentary made about Weston is also of interest. Charis is interviewed as an elderly woman shortly before her death, She comes across as unsentimental and an acute observer.

[David Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson's commentary on life and making art in the era of the Depression is fascinating. One gets a tantalizing sense of a life that can't really be known except by living it.

Weston's photographs are striking, as is the growing realization of what can be accomplished artistically simply by photographing nude bodies. There's no "simple" about it, of course, except for the profound simplicity of two human beings and one small piece of technology to capture an intimate collaboration.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

The nudes are meh. Maybe because I have seen quite a few, and Weston's prude audience was completely ignorant beyond a couple of ”classical” paintings.

The text could be interesting, but lacks any depth. These are only some plain reports. They could have been different, but with more data. In this form no editor could make them better.

[Ellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of bare B/W photos (mostly females) from the 1920's to the 1940's. Close up, detailed, natural, and insightful. Includes some insightful text.