Edward Weston's "Daybooks"

[priller]

I just happened upon volume II of his daybooks, "California" at the used bookstore a few weeks ago. $4, so why not? As far as I can tell, "daybook" is just his name for a diary. When I got it I thought, "How interesting is this going to be, really? How much can he say about taking photographs?"

Well, I'm happy to say they are very interesting. I'm really surprised. He doesn't really talk about photogaphs all the time. In fact, most of the entries deal with his more mundane worries of money and kids and ex-wife. And his girlfriends. Many girlfriends. Sometimes he was seeing 3 at the same time! But then he would wonder, "Why do these women throw themselves at me? I am not a good lover, often penniless, what do I have to offer them?"

But he does talk quite a bit about his photographs, his vision for his photos, and about art in general. Most of his acquaintances seemed to be artists and writers and poets who were important at the time (and even now). People like Georgia O'Keefe, Diego Rivera, Robison Jeffers, Henrietta Shore, and many others.

While he might have had doubts about relationships, he was very confident in his art. He would often say, "I am 'seeing' stronger than ever. These negatives from today are surely among my best!" You can sense the excitement when he found an interesting pepper or gourd or sea shell to photograph. And if food was his subject, he would eat it later. "I cannot afford to buy vegetables for art's sake. I would starve!"

I could go on, but hopefully you get the tenor of the book. I can't believe how much I've enjoyed reading it. A very revealing insight into the mind of an artist, and one of the foremost photographers.