Edward Weston

[Curt]

Does anyone know which brand or kind of enlarger Edward Weston used?

Note: Photograph of Edward Weston by Tina Modotti is in the public domain.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

A light bulb on a peg board with a handkerchief wrapped around it and a contact printing frame.

He sometimes duped smaller format negs made with a Graflex reflex camera to 8x10" and contact printed those, but he didn't use an enlarger in general.

 

[JBrunner]

Weston was primarily a contact printer. When he wished to make enlarged 8x10 negatives to contact print from his Graflex negs, he used his view camera.

 

[bdial]

This month's Lenswork has an interview with Kim Weston, and the CD version will have a tour of Edward's darkroom which is preserved, in Kim Weston's home (formerly Edward's).

 

[Gerald Koch]

I think that anyone who has seen EW's darkroom is struck by its utter simplicity. No fancy equipment. So one really can work without analysers and fancy timers, etc.

 

[Will S]

There is an excellent film called "The Photographer" that shows Weston in the darkroom. Lightbulb. Contact printing frame. No handkerchief though. I notice that he stops dodging just long enough to get to the bulb switch to turn it off...

Brett Weston used an enlarger.

Best,

Will

 

[jimgalli]

Shoot, I wanted to get an enlarger just like Edwards. OK then, does anyone know what lens that is on the Korona? 11X14 Gundlach Radar?

 

[Ray Heath]

g'day Curt

it's not about what he used, but how he used it

you should be concerned with what you've got and how are you going to use it

 

[Dinesh]

g'day Curt

it's not about what he used, but how he used it

you should be concerned with what you've got and how are you going to use it

Well, aren't you the clever one! :rolleyes:

 

[Ray Heath]

Well, aren't you the clever one! :rolleyes:

aw, shucks, not as witty as some

 

[Jim Noel]

Shoot, I wanted to get an enlarger just like Edwards. OK then, does anyone know what lens that is on the Korona? 11X14 Gundlach Radar?

Jim, I am surprised you don't know this is a Graf Variable. I have forgotten the focal lengths. In the original print it is possible to read the info on the rim of the lens.

 

[lightranger]

I had to rare opportunity to stand in Edward's darkroom and is was a magical experience for me. A small table with a light bulb hanging over it. I laid my hands on his contact printing frame and hoped that some power my come from it. I have admired his prints for years, and to see his crude working space was an unbelievable sight. I am now more amazed by his work than ever.

 

[Earl Dunbar]

Looks like someone is looking for magic dust. I think Weston just worked hard.

 

[doughowk]

The video The Roots of California Photography: the Monterey Legacy (available in DVD) includes Kim Weston demonstrating Ed's darkroom. The ease of contact printing is offset by requirements for creating a good in-camera negative - a painful learning process for me.

 

[Curt]

Im reading the Daybooks and he repeatedly says he will enlarge so I asked the question. I just looked in the back of the book at in a section called EW's technique and found out how he enlarged smaller negatives.

He grew fond of the 3 1/4 4 1/4 Graflex while in Mexico and to enlarge the negatives an enlarged negative had to be made. First an 8 x 10 inch glass positive was made from the smaller negative. From this he made a new negative and then contact printed onto platinum and palladio papers until he returned form Mexico to California where he settled on glossy chloro-bromide papers which he contact printed.

I am aware of his simple setup for a darkroom and the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. He used the Sun to print with also. My next question is did he use his camera to make the enlarged glass positive? It would make sense since no "enlarger" is mentioned.

 

[juan]

That's a good question. There were various kits to turn Speed Graphics into enlargers, but I've never seen it mentioned that a Graflex ( the SLR with the chimney) could be used as an enlarger. I guess it could with the shutter in the open position if some method could be arranged to fit a negative holder on the back, but it seems it would be very awkward. More likely that the 8x10 view camera would be used as an enlarger.
juan

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yes, I've always been under the impression that he made the enlarged positive with a camera.

 

[Curt]

And no I'm not looking for a magic bullet. I am looking for a more complete understanding of the man and his equipment and the events of his life and the time he was living in.

 

[Russ Young]

Jim Galli asked: "OK then, does anyone know what lens that is on the Korona? 11X14 Gundlach Radar?"
I've examined an original print at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth. You can easily read on the lens itself: Graf Variable 14-16 inch... yes, Eddy loved soft focus enough to be memorialized with his favorite lens.
Oooh, that should stir it up...
Russ

 

[Jim Noel]

That's a good question. There were various kits to turn Speed Graphics into enlargers, but I've never seen it mentioned that a Graflex ( the SLR with the chimney) could be used as an enlarger. I guess it could with the shutter in the open position if some method could be arranged to fit a negative holder on the back, but it seems it would be very awkward. More likely that the 8x10 view camera would be used as an enlarger.
juan

It is easy to attach a film holder to the rear of a Graflex and use it to project the image. All one needs is some sort of light source, release the mirror so it is up out of the way of the light path, and there is a straight path from the rear of the camera to the lens.

 

[keithwms]

And no I'm not looking for a magic bullet. I am looking for a more complete understanding of the man and his equipment and the events of his life and the time he was living in.

Curt, you might just pick up the "In Focus" series book on Edward Weston, edited by Brett Abbott. It contains a good collection of representative photos and a number of other interesting tidbits, for example, in 1933 EW resolved not to make any enlarged portraits any more, only contacts. There is a fair amount of personal info (marriage, affairs, declining health etc.), pre and post f/64 ... a quite useful intro for understanding his work. Note that Adams also had a few interesting things to say about EW in his "Examples" book.

There is much to be learned from him by educating ourselves on the life and times of Edward Weston and his contemporaries. You should be commended for taking that step.