A lesson from Edward Weston
Each morning Weston journaled. He spoke of the work he made in these journals. In 1923 he burned the majority of the journal he had kept, disgusted by its contents. He later began writing again.
He stopped journaling after becoming recognized as an artist.
In those years before he received recognition, he documented what went into his work and spoke quite highly of his outcome. Almost in an effort to convince himself, as he traveled his artist journey alone, that his art was worth continuing.
He was right. And there’s so much inspiration to be drawn in his excitement for his famed pepper image. Inspiration throughout these pages by far, but find a copy at your local library and read the words for yourself.
If only we all wrote so positively about the work we made. Maybe we would produce more and more to fill that urge, push ourselves further and further, knowing we make compelling, brilliant work and can continue to do so.
“The glorious new pepper Sonya bought has keyed me up all week and caused me to expose eight negatives – I’m not satisfied yet!…But the pepper is well worth all the time, money, effort. If peppers would not wither, I certainly would not have attempted this one when so preoccupied. But I rather like the idea that they become a part of me, enrich my blood as well as my vision…Sonya keeps tempting me with new peppers!…I have a great negative – by far the best!…It is classic, completely satisfying, – a pepper – but more than a pepper: abstract, in that it is completely outside subject matter.”
edward Weston The Flame of Recognition
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