Edward Henry Weston

Edward Henry Weston

Edward Henry Weston was born on March 24th 1886 in Highland Park Illinois, at the age of 16 he received his first camera from his father; a Cannon Bulls Eye #2. In 1906 he moved to California where he worked as a surveyor for San Pedro L.A. and Salt Lake Railroad. Shortly thereafter he began working as an itinerant photographer, taking photographs of animals, children, and funerals. In 1908 Henry moved back to Illinois and attended the Illinois College of Photography. He graduated from the one year program in six months and then returned to California and "worked for A. Mojoiner Portrait Studio where he demonstrated outstanding abilities with lighting and posing" (Edwardweston .Com)

Weston then married Flora Chandler in 1909 and together they had four children and opened a portrait studio in Trapico, California. Weston "became successful soft focus; pictorial style; winning many salons and professional awards, Weston gained an international reputation for his high key portraits and modern dance studies" (Edwardweston.com)

English: A photo of Edward Weston taken approximat...

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Articles about his work were published in such magazines as American photographer, Photo Era, and Photo Miniature; however the "photographs taken at ARMCO Steel plant in Middletown marked the turning point. Weston renounced his pictorialism style with new emphasis on abstract form and sharper resolution of detail." (Edwardweston.com) Weston wrote, "The camera should be used for a recording of life, for rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh."

In 1923 Weston moved to Mexico City where he took many of his famous portraits and nudes. Famous artists Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, and Jose Orozco hailed Weston as the master of 20th century art. Weston is most famous for his work with natural forms, close ups, nudes, and landscapes. Between 1927 and 1930 Weston...