Dead Tree and Rocks, Washington Coast
Photographically, Edward Weston is one of my artistic heroes. Reading “The Flame of Recognition” when I was in college was the key event that made me understand photography could be much, much more than the snapshots I had been making. Weston’s “Flame of Recognition” lit my fire for creative photography (sorry about the word play) and his clean compositions (“the strongest way of seeing”) have been a guide for my photographic compositions ever since. I have fallen short of achieving his brilliance many times, but I continue to ask myself, “What is the strongest way of seeing the scene in front of me?”
What made Weston such a good photographer? The question was answered in the film, “The Photographer” by Willard VanDyke (a film maker and member of the f/64 group). In the film, the narrator ascribes Weston’s success to:
- An intense love for the world around him
- A sharp eye attuned to the values of the mind behind them
- Constant search for significant form, the need to find order in what first appears to be chaos
- The discipline of technique the painstaking skill of the master craftsman
In the handy list provided by the narrator there is not a single reference to anything specifically photographic. The characteristics are strictly mental and can apply to any art form. In fact, I would suggest that these four points are essential to living the creative life.
Here’s a link to the entire film on YouTube. Spend about twenty minutes and learn about a great photographer.
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