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Edward Weston

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Photographer

The Resume

    (March 24, 1886-January 1, 1958)
    Born in Highland Park, Illinois
    Well-known for his photographs of landscapes, natural forms, and nudes
    Photographs include 'Portrait of Tina Modotti' (1922), 'Nautilus' (1927), 'Pepper No. 30' (1930), 'Point Lobos' (1946), and 'Rocks and Pebbles' (1948)
    Co-founded Group f/64 with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and Willard van Dyke (1932)
    Received Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography (1937)
    Published the photo books 'Seeing California with Edward Weston' (1939), 'California and the West' (1940), 'Fifty Photographs: Edward Weston' (1947), and 'Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio' (1952)
    Died in Carmel, California
    Ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean by his sons at an area then known as Pebbly Beach (renamed Weston Beach in his honor)

Why he might be annoying:

    He hated school and called such places 'dreary wastelands', so he didn't finish high school.
    He had affairs with several women, most notably his one-time model Tina Modotti, with whom he spent four years with in Mexico. (1923-1927)
    After he returned to San Francisco, he burned all of his pre-Mexico journals, presumably in order to forget the past and start again with a new approach in photography. (1924)
    He divorced his first wife, Flora May Chandler, once all four of their children reached maturity. (1937)
    Even his second marriage with Charis Wilson fared no better, as it lasted only seven years. (1939-1946)
    In a failed attempt to provide himself with a steady income, he offered some of his photos for a monthly $5 subscription, but he got no more than eleven subscribers.
    His work was subject to further misinterpretation during the later years of his career, with critics condemning his commission of Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' as 'brooding' or 'elegiac'.
    At the time of his death, he only had $300 in his bank account.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was instrumental in establishing photography as an independent art form.
    His mother died when he was five.
    After his older sister Mary married and left home, his father focused much of his attention on his stepmother and stepbrother, leaving him in further isolation.
    He was capable of giving mundane objects an unusual, often sensual, quality rivaling those of his nudes.
    Contrary to various myths depicting him as dark and brooding, he was actually a passionate man devoted to his sister, sons, and friends.
    At least his second marriage proved to be more stable than his first one, as he felt more secure.
    He maintained a frugal lifestyle despite his fame.
    He opposed the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 19 Votes: 10.53% Annoying