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.

                                                                                                    -Edward Weston

   Edward Weston, one of the great American photographers of the first half of the Twentieth Century, created a significant portfolio of nudes. The National Literary Review is pleased to present eleven of Weston's images in this retrospective. Of particular interest is the evolution of Weston's work with female nudes across a quarter century. His daybooks reflect a deep interest in the sensuous curves of the human body, which he explored, intentionally or not, through his startling series of images of peppers. He claims he was astonished by other's inclination to draw comparisons between his peppers and his nudes. Still, he acknowledged his fascination with the senuous quality of the vegtables he photographed during the same period he was also focusing on unadorned bodies. 

   The following information on Weston was gleaned from the family website which we encourage you to visit at: www.edward-weston.com. The material was prepared by his son Cole.

Born Edward Henry Weston, March 24, 1886, in Highland Park, Illinois. In 1912, Weston met photographer Margrethe Mather in his Tropico, California studio. Mather becomes his studio assistant and most frequent model for the next decade. Mather had a very strong influence on Weston. He would later call her, “the first important woman in my life.” Weston began keeping journals in 1915 that came to be known as his "Daybooks." They would chronicle his life and photographic development into the 1930’s.
    In 1922 Weston traveled to New York City where he met Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler and Georgia O’Keefe. A year later, he moved to Mexico City where he opened a photographic studio with his apprentice and lover Tina Modotti. In Mexico, Weston became friends with Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, and Jose Orozco hailed Weston as the master of 20th century art. After moving back to California in 1926, Weston began his work for which he is most deservedly famous: natural forms, close-ups, nudes, and landscapes. 
    Weston began experiencing symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in 1946 and in 1948 shot his last photograph of Point Lobos. Edward Weston died on January 1, 1958 at his home, Wildcat Hill, in Carmel, California. Weston's ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Pebbly Beach at Point Lobos.

                                                  Breast 1920

                                                    Nude Mexico 1923

Nude 1925
 

Torso 1925

Dancer 1927

Nude 1936

Nude, 1939

Nude Floating 1939

Spring 1943

Winter Idyll 1945

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Archive: Spring, 2006

The following four photographs are by Tracy M. Rogers, creator/editor of The Aurora Review - www.theaurorareview.com. Ms. Rogers is a writer, photographer and music critic. Her work has appeared

in several literary journals including Prism Quarterly (poetry) and The Pebble Lake Review (photography.)

We are pleased to present these examples of her work here.

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