Edward Weston

Born in Highland Park, Illinois. In 1911, he opened a portrait studio in Tropico, now Glendale, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. As a founding member of the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles, he was internationally known for this style. However, in the early 1920s, he began exploring a new direction and changed his style to Straight Photography inspired by Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand. After 1923, he frequently visited Mexico and interacted with artists like Diego Rivera. He gradually photographed object forms such as vegetables, shells, and nudes, and after establishing a studio in Carmel, California, in 1929, he photographed the motifs at Point Lobos, such as coastal trees, rocks, and kelp. In 1932, he co-founded the group f/64 with Ansel Adams and others. Weston’s exquisitely detailed photographs, which show both objectivity and sensuality, significantly influenced the following generation.
The Shaku-do-sha held three of Weston’s solo exhibitions in Little Tokyo in 1925, 1927, and 1931. Weston was deeply grateful for Japanese people appreciating and purchasing his work. On the other hand, Japanese photographers were also influenced by him as they witnessed the development of Weston’s style.