Edward Weston
1947 (ca)
Nautilus Shells

Kodachrome transparency
20.3 x 25.2 cm
 
Bassenge Photography Auctions
Courtesy of Bassenge, Berlin (Photography, Dec 2, 2009, Sale: 94, Lot: 4415)
 
In 1946, the Eastman Kodak Company asked Edward Weston to test their large-format Kodachrome film and take pictures in Monterey, California. It was a challenge for Weston who up to then had only used black and white film, but he and the Eastman Kodak Company were pleased with the results. In Modern Photography, Dec. 1953 the photographer himself stated: "You find few subjects that can be expressed in either color or black-and-white. But you find more than can be said only through one of them. Many I photographed would be meaningless in black-and white; the separation of forms is possible only because of the juxtaposition of colors. But those who say that color will eventually replace black-and-white are talking nonsense. The two do not compete with each other. They are different means to different ends". Unfortunately due to illness Weston could not further explore the potential of color film and he felt he had just "scratched the surface" of the possibilities it offered.
 
Lit.: Edward Weston: Color Photography. Tucson 1986, see pp. 25-26, ill. Plate 28.
 
LL/33573