California and the West by Edward Weston

California and the West Reviews

• 
  Andrew

  I picked this one up at the local library's used bookstore. What a delight! In addition to having grown up with Edward Weston's photographs on display in the Weston Gallery and reading his daybooks. I had the delight to meet Charis Wilson once at Ansel Adams's house. It was such a treat to read her descriptions of what went into the making of some of the images I have cherished for decades and to get a view into a simpler time, driving around the West car-camping, seeing the scenery and looking for images. Her impish sense of humor made for a very pleasant read about a landmark time in the history of American photographer, when the artist who received the first Guggenheim grant for photography went about making good on his promise. This is a wonderful book that I will keep in my library.
• 
  Iain

  What a uniquely marvelous book.
  
  To be able to read the day to day details of Edward Weston's life while shooting during his Guggenheim trips, and to get such interesting glimpses into the world of 1937-39, from the lively perspective of Charis Wilson, and in her distinct, forthright, and very readable style, is just a treasure. I love reading the firsthand accounts of classic photographers, but getting such an outside yet still intimate perspective makes this a very different read from the usual photographer chronicles. And of course it includes an interesting selection of Edward's photos from the trips, made more enjoyable by Charis' often detailed descriptions of how they came about. For instance, a photo of an abandoned car that might seem unremarkable within this collection, becomes a fascinating insight into composition after it's pointed out that Edward used the shadow cast by the camera itself as a critical compositional element to finish what would otherwise have been a conspicuously empty corner.
  
  I highly recommend this not just to Weston fans and those who love that era of photography, but also to anyone interested in that era in general. I'm already planning to loan it out to a non-photographer friend.
  
  This has become one of my favorite books, and it's also taken on a sentimental value. I spent more than two years reading this. I can't count how many times I carried this big hardcover to work, to someone's house, or just along on a drive, in hopes of finding a good stretch of time to spend reading it, and that hardly ever worked out. I took it along to visit my mother one evening and ended up spending an enjoyable half hour going through the photos with her. I carried it all over but only made slow progress, a few pages at a time, mostly before going to sleep. Adding to the time I took, I ended up reading it one and a half times, because around the halfway point I got into the habit of taking notes while reading, and ended up going back to the beginning and quickly re-reading the entire book to that point. By the time I'd read the first half twice, I'd already purchased an original 1940 copy and a second copy of the second edition to serve as a loaner.
  
  Regarding the two editions, I would say both are similarly/adequately good, and the more recent 1978 edition is easier to find at a good price in good condition. However, for whatever reason, the earlier edition contains additional photos that were omitted in the later edition—I've never seen this mentioned anywhere. Some of them are among the more interesting photos too: additional shots of Yosemite and a photo of "Heimy" the Ford V-8 touring sedan parked within a desert landscape. I haven't yet compared the texts closely enough to see if that differs in any way, but it appears identical with the exception of Charis' very interesting foreword added in 1978. So overall, I'd suggest the newer edition for the foreword, but the original is worth picking up if you happen upon a good price and want to be completist.
• 
  Peter Tillman

  I enjoyed this book, but the photo reproductions in the library copy I read were just OK.
  
  I liked Charis Wilson's memoir more:
  
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...