A Staggering Revolution: A Cultural History of Thirties Photography

13. Seeing California with Edward Weston

13 Seeing California with Edward Weston “New Roads for Those Ready to Travel” Applying฀for฀a฀Guggenheim฀Fellowship฀in฀the฀autumn฀of฀฀Edward฀Weston฀ described฀his฀“plan฀of฀work”฀in฀just฀two฀sentences:฀“I฀wish฀to฀continue฀an฀ epic฀series฀of฀photographs฀of฀the฀West,฀begun฀about฀;฀this฀will฀include฀a฀ range฀from฀satires฀on฀advertising฀to฀ranch฀life,฀from฀beach฀kelp฀to฀mountains.฀ The฀publication฀of฀the฀above฀seems฀assured.”฀His฀terseness฀was฀surprising฀ inasmuch฀as฀no฀photographer฀had฀ever฀held฀a฀Guggenheim,฀and฀so฀was฀his฀ jauntiness฀about฀publication฀which฀rested฀on฀the฀slender฀reed฀of฀a฀gallery’s฀ scheme฀to฀underwrite฀it฀by฀soliciting฀subscribers.฀But฀he฀was฀confident฀the฀ thirty-five฀prints฀supporting฀his฀application฀abundantly฀demonstrated฀his฀ qualifications฀and฀that฀his฀many฀exhibitions฀since฀his฀first฀New฀York฀show฀six฀ years฀earlier฀indicated฀his฀national฀standing.1 ฀ The฀next฀spring฀he฀received฀a฀Guggenheim—although฀not฀before฀amplifying ฀his฀application฀at฀the฀urging฀of฀Dorothea฀Lange฀and฀Paul฀Taylor—and฀ 247 Seeing California with Edward Weston embarked฀on฀his฀most฀productive฀creative฀period,฀making฀some฀,฀photographs฀ of฀what฀in฀his฀revised฀application฀he฀called฀“MY฀Western฀scene.”฀These฀pictures฀ occupy฀an฀honored฀place฀in฀photographic฀history,฀preeminently฀for฀their฀extraordinary ฀formal฀excellence,฀and฀have฀also฀occasioned฀considerable฀biographical฀speculation ฀about฀whether฀they฀intimated฀his฀elegiac฀apprehension฀of฀an฀approaching฀ mortality.฀Weston’s฀special฀ambitions฀for฀his฀project฀have฀remained฀obscure,฀however,฀ as฀have฀its฀cultural฀dimensions.฀Because฀cultural฀historians฀have฀neglected฀it,฀their฀ accounts฀of฀thirties฀photography฀have฀been฀partial฀in฀making฀documentary฀seem฀ to฀have฀been฀the฀only฀significant฀practice.฀That฀is฀particularly฀misleading฀because฀ Weston’s฀Guggenheim฀photographs฀enjoyed฀uncommonly฀wide฀dissemination,฀to฀ the฀degree฀that฀more฀likely฀reached฀a฀greater฀number฀of฀viewers฀than฀pictures฀by฀ other฀leading฀photographers฀except฀the฀magazinists.฀In฀finding฀such฀a฀popular฀audience ฀they฀achieved฀one฀of฀his฀ambitions฀and฀helped฀fulfill฀that฀of฀photography’s฀art฀ world฀to฀make฀its฀finest฀efforts฀integral฀to฀the฀nation’s฀cultural฀life.2 ฀ Weston’s฀project’s฀most฀enduring฀memorial฀is฀California฀and฀the฀West,฀published฀ in฀฀and฀reproducing฀ninety-six฀photographs฀with฀a฀text฀by฀his฀wife,฀Charis฀ Wilson฀Weston.฀The฀intensified฀public฀interest฀in฀artful฀photography฀made฀it฀a฀ plausible฀commercial฀undertaking฀for฀a฀New฀York฀publisher,฀as฀it฀would฀not฀have฀ been฀a฀decade฀earlier,฀and฀it฀owed฀its฀existence฀as฀well฀to฀U.S.฀Camera,฀which฀sponsored ฀the฀book.฀Its฀handsomely฀reproduced฀photographs฀amply฀revealed฀Weston’s฀ virtuosity,฀but฀inasmuch฀as฀Charis’s฀text฀determined฀their฀sequence,฀glossed฀their฀ subjects,฀and฀hinted฀at฀his฀intentions,฀their฀book฀needs฀to฀be฀understood฀as฀a฀collaborative ฀effort฀with฀other฀valences฀than฀solely฀demonstrating฀his฀formal฀genius.฀Her฀ intimate฀account฀of฀their฀extensive฀travels฀and฀of฀his฀making฀of฀the฀photographs฀ expanded฀California฀and฀the฀West฀beyond฀an฀art฀book’s฀usual฀boundaries.฀Charis’s฀ emphasis฀on฀autobiography฀gave฀his฀pictures฀this฀coloration฀as฀well,฀and฀it฀also฀ associated฀the฀volume฀with฀two฀other฀genres฀that฀flourished฀in฀the฀thirties,฀the฀road฀ book฀and฀the฀guidebook฀to฀western฀travel.฀And฀while฀his฀photographs’฀formal฀rigor฀ often฀intimated฀abstract฀propositions฀about฀the฀natural฀world’s฀indivisibility,฀a฀surprising ฀number฀also฀exhibited฀temporal฀preoccupations,฀especially฀about฀the฀effects฀ of฀human฀interventions฀on฀the฀western฀landscape฀and฀their฀genesis฀in฀American฀ cultural฀attitudes.฀California฀and฀the฀West฀thus฀permits฀a฀richer฀understanding฀of฀ Weston’s฀artistic฀and฀cultural฀ambitions,฀complicating฀the฀standard฀view฀of฀him฀as฀ a฀dedicated฀formalist฀who฀somehow฀evaded฀the฀impress฀of฀his฀culture.3 ฀ That฀this฀view฀has฀been฀so฀customary,฀however,฀is฀not฀surprising฀because฀among฀ the฀major฀photographers฀of฀the฀interwar฀years฀Weston฀seemed฀most฀disengaged฀ from฀the฀main฀currents฀of฀American฀life.฀He฀had฀begun฀as฀a฀pictorialist฀around฀฀ but฀after฀World฀War฀I฀embraced฀straight฀photography฀and฀destroyed฀much฀of฀this฀ earlier฀work.฀Alfred฀Stieglitz’s฀approbation฀in฀฀of฀his฀recent฀images,฀modernist฀ in฀form,฀confirmed฀him฀in฀his฀new฀direction,฀which฀he฀continued฀to฀pursue฀during฀ 248 A Staggering Revolution two฀Mexican฀sojourns฀in฀the฀mid-twenties.฀Shortly฀after฀he฀returned฀to฀California฀ in฀฀he฀began฀the฀sculptural฀studies฀of฀shells,฀vegetables,฀kelp,฀fungi,฀cypresses,฀ and฀rocks฀for฀which฀he฀is฀still฀perhaps฀best฀known฀and฀which฀preoccupied฀him฀into฀ the฀early฀thirties. ฀ He฀supported฀himself฀as฀a฀portraitist,฀work฀he฀disliked฀and฀tolerated฀only฀to฀buy฀ time฀to฀pursue฀his฀art.฀Aside฀from...