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Edward understood thoughts and concepts which dwell on simple mystical levels. His own work -- direct and honest as it is -- leaped from a deep intuition and belief in forces beyond the real and the factual. He accepted these forces as completely real and part of the total world of man and nature, only a small portion of which most of us experience directly. As with any great artist, or imaginative scientist, the concept is immediate and clear, but the "working-out" takes time, effort, and conscious evaluations.
Edward Weston, contrary to so many now practicing photography, never verbalized on his own work. His work stood for him, as it does for most of us, as a complete statement of the man and his art. Edward suffers no sense of personal insecurity in his work; he required no support through "explanations," justifications, or interpretations. He was amused at the guff which was written and spoken about him, but he was nevertheless tolerant of the need of some people to struggle for the truth through complex involvements and slippery intellectual bogs. A frequent comment of his was "Well, if it means that to him it's all right with me."
I would prefer to join Edward in avoiding verbal or written definitions of creative work. Who can talk or write about the Bach Partitas? You just play them or listen to them. They exist only in the world of music. Likewise, Edward's photographs exist only as original prints, or as [sometimes] adequate reproductions. Look up his photographs, look at them carefully, then look at yourselves -- not critically or with self-depreciation, any sense of inferiority. You might discover, through Edward Weston's work, how basically good you are, or might become. This is the way Edward would want it to be.
--Ansel Adams
Excerpt from an article published in Infinity magazine in February 1964.
© The Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.
Excerpted by permission of © The Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.
