Edward Weston

Context
Edward Henry Weston was born March 24, 1886. He began photographing at the age of sixteen after receiving a Bull’s Eye #2 camera from his father. Weston’s first photographs captured the parks of Chicago and his aunt’s farm. We can see that this links to his work because many of his photographs consist of natural objects such as shells and we also see him capture pictures of vegetables such as mushrooms. After this Weston progressed with a new emphasis on abstract form and sharper resolution of detail. We can see this progress in his work because of the way he captures texture of the objects and the way he creates an angle that we have to look deeper into the image to see what the object is. Weston's work for which he is most deservedly famous consists of natural forms, close-ups, nudes, and landscapes which is the main images that I am looking at.

Photography

To progress my work with this photographer I have taken a few of his images to analyse.

When we first look at this image we see a shell but the angle that it has been positioned at some people might not be able to tell what it is. This image and many other of his photographs has an element of mystery because it takes us a while to grasp what the image actually is. The fact that Edward Weston is famous for his natural form photography links to this image because it represents natural life as it is a shell. Also, the fact that he began taking pictures on a farm links to the picture because on the farm he would've been taking images of simple things like stones and this image shows how a simple thing can be turned into an image that people have to actually think about. I like this image because we can see the texture of the shell and the angle of the image draws us in even though the image is in black and white. I can use ideas like this in my work because I can take images of things that are boring but make them come alive by attracting people to the way I have taken the image.

When we first look at this image we see a mushroom but when we look deeper into the image we focus on the texture of the mushroom and how the photographer has created great focus on the small details of the mushroom. The way Weston has positioned this object we almost look at the mushroom as a tree because of the shape of it. This links to the context of the artist because this is a vegetable and as he began photographing on a farm this is almost a progressed photo of what he first did. The texture of this can be seen as rough as the edges are not smooth. Also the photographer has used hard lighting to show his work this suggests to us that he wanted us to see the texture of the mushroom purposely. 

When we first look at this image we see a onion or maybe a leek, some sort of vegetable and we are instantly drawn to the texture of it. Looking deeper into this image we could maybe see a face by the middle parts being represented as eyes. In a way Weston brings the vegetables to life as he gives them a purpose and shows us the detail that we don't always recognise. Personally, when I look at this image I think of leather because it looks hard  and tough. He has taken this image and made the texture of the vegetable seem different to what we instantly think. Again this image links to the context of the artist because he is photographing vegetables which he would've been taking pictures of at the farm. 

Progression

To progress I am going to use Edward Weston's ideas in my work because I like the way he uses the angle of his camera and lighting to present texture of his objects.