Brett and Edward Weston

dario · Jan 20, 2010

Does anyone have a copy of Roger Aikin's essay:

Brett Weston and Edward Weston: An Essay in Photographic Style

It appeared in Art Journal, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Summer, 1973), pp. 394-404.

It's available (for a price) through jstor, and academic database, but there're no institutions near me that have access to it.

Thanks.

Shawn Dougherty · Jan 20, 2010

I would also be interested in reading this essay if we can find where it is available. Does anyone have contact info for Roger?

Mike1234 · Jan 20, 2010

Brett was/is leaps ahead of Edward. Sorry... but true.

doughowk · Jan 20, 2010

Still waiting for Charles Woods' biography of Brett "a Restless Eye" to be published. Could not find the Aikin essay mentioned (thought several in Lodima portfolio series), but there is Scott Hale's essay in "Out of the Shadow"

Shawn Dougherty · Jan 20, 2010

doughowk said:
Still waiting for Charles Woods' biography of Brett "a Restless Eye" to be published. Could not find the Aikin essay mentioned (thought several in Lodima portfolio series), but there is Scott Hale's essay in "Out of the Shadow"

Yes, sure wish the biography would be published.... And "Out of the Shadow" was an excellent read.

djhopscotch · Jan 20, 2010

Email sent with pdf of article.

dario · Jan 21, 2010

Problem solved, thanks.

skillian · Jan 21, 2010

This is a fantastic essay - highly recommended for BW fans.

Mahler_one · Jan 21, 2010

Mike1234 said:
Brett was/is leaps ahead of Edward. Sorry... but true.

Yes, and Edward ( the Father ) graciously said as much in his Day Books. Evidently Brett had a very fine sense of composition at an extremely young age...as I recall, in this early teens. There is a wonderful series of books on the images of Brett Weston published by Lodima Press. The reproductions are so good that one feels as though one is holding the original print, and the cost for the paper back edition(s) is extremely reasonable. The series is on the Michael and Paul site. There is simply no substitute for taking the time to observe a fine print in order to learn vision and technique.

Shawn Dougherty · Jan 21, 2010

Thanks to those who contacted me directly. Really a wonderful essay, very seldom do we see this kind of detailed comparison of photographic style. A great compliment to "Dune" and "Out of the Shadow".

Chazzy · Jan 21, 2010

Did Brett do more than just landscape photography?

Shawn Dougherty · Jan 21, 2010

Underwater nudes, closeup studies of just about everything under the sun - cars, kelp, rust, paint, glass, plants, people to name a few. Portraits, wood sculptures... Check out:

www.brettwestonarchive.com for a small selection.

Mahler_one · Jan 21, 2010

Thanks...were these images from the Lodima press editions Shawn? Very nice.

skillian · Jan 21, 2010

I think far too many art critics, collectors, art historians, etc.... have discounted Brett as nothing more than EW's son. Photographically speaking, Brett and Edward were contemporaries and EW recognized Brett's influence on his own work many times. It was Brett who talked EW into abandoning platinum in favor of silver gelatin papers, Brett who "discovered" the rocks at Point Lobos, etc... I enjoy them both and believe their work should be considered in the historical context that it was made, but Brett was no mere imitator of his father's work. He had his own vision. This essay does a very fine job comparing these two.

Shawn Dougherty · Jan 21, 2010

Mahler, I'm not sure about the origins of the scans but the images displayed make up Brett's portfolios which are indeed being published by Lodima.

In my humble opinion much of Brett's best work (and he made a vast amount of it) was not included in his portfolios. Try a google search for images or go over to Corbis, I believe they have 1000 images of his there. All the best. Shawn

36cm2 · Jan 21, 2010

Posted wirelessly..

I'd be very grateful if someone could PM me the article. Brett's work, particulalry the more abstract, amazes me. Thanks.

c6h6o3 · Jan 21, 2010

skillian said:
I think far too many art critics, collectors, art historians, etc.... have discounted Brett as nothing more than EW's son. Photographically speaking, Brett and Edward were contemporaries and EW recognized Brett's influence on his own work many times. It was Brett who talked EW into abandoning platinum in favor of silver gelatin papers, Brett who "discovered" the rocks at Point Lobos, etc... I enjoy them both and believe their work should be considered in the historical context that it was made. Brett was no mere imitator of his father's work. He had his own vision. This essay does a very fine job comparing these two.

The truth of all you say notwithstanding, the very, very finest prints I've ever seen (and there have only been 3 of them) were Edward's. I've yet to see ones by Brett which compared, although reproductions I've seen in the Lodima Press series leads me to believe that there are some.

skillian · Jan 21, 2010

That may be true, but Picture-making is light years more important to me than printmaking. The quality of Brett's prints varied wildly over his career - when he started using the smaller camera in the 60's, print quality naturally suffered, but his vision always evolved over the 50+ years he photographed. He was simply a visual tour deforce.

thomasw_ · Jan 21, 2010

I'd be interested in reading the article if anyone will forward it to me. Thanks, TW.

Andrew A. · Jan 21, 2010

thomasw_ said:
I'd be interested in reading the article if anyone will forward it to me. Thanks, TW.

Make that another that would like the article as well...thanks in advance.

Andrew

Timothy · Jan 22, 2010

EW & BW article

I would really like to see the article too.

Tim R

Joe Lipka · Jan 22, 2010

There's not much printed on Brett. It might make sense to post the article as an attachment so we can download it from APUG. Unless, of course, there would be some copyright issues.

Irrev.Rev. · Jan 22, 2010

The recent Brett Weston exhibit in New Hampshire...worth more than a few thousand words...!

John

c6h6o3 · Jan 22, 2010

skillian said:
That may be true, but Picture-making is light years more important to me than printmaking. The quality of Brett's prints varied wildly over his career - when he started using the smaller camera in the 60's, print quality naturally suffered, but his vision always evolved over the 50+ years he photographed. He was simply a visual tour deforce.

No argument there. My favorite image from the White Sands portfolio was made with the Rolleiflex. In reproduction I definitely can't tell the difference, and probably can't tell the difference with actual prints. I suspect that the recent BW show I saw at the Phillips Collection contained some enlargements.

36cm2 · Jan 22, 2010

Timothy said:
I would really like to see the article too.

Tim R

Tim, sending you PM now.

Brett and Edward Weston

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