Edward Weston: Leaves of Grass

Edward Weston: Leaves of Grass is comprised of 53 gelatin-silver prints by American photographer Edward Weston. Considered one of the great Modernist photographers of the 20th century, Weston was a founding member of Group f/64. He was well known for his compositional sensibility and his superb printing skills and was highly regarded for his photographs of natural forms, close-ups, nudes and landscapes. He became known for finding beauty in the common place.

The gelatin-silver prints in the exhibition were commissioned in 1941 by book publisher The Limited Editions Club of New York to illustrate an edition of a collection of poems known as Leaves of Grass written by Walt Whitman. With his reputation for landscape photography, Weston was a logical choice to provide images for Leaves of Grass, considered by Whitman to be a celebration of America and things American.

Weston's photographs from this project are exceptionally wide-ranging, with a particular focus on urban and man-altered landscapes. Although he never wanted his images to literally reflect Whitman's text, Weston related to the poet's plainspoken style and his emphasis on the broad spectrum of human experience. This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Image: Edward Weston, American, 1886-1958 Contraband Bayou, Louisiana 1941 Photograph, gelatin silver print

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