Norton Photography Gallery
August 9, 2008 – November 15, 2008
On July 29, 1923 Edward Weston boarded the steamer S.S. Colima in Los Angeles, bound for Mexico. Accompanying him were his lover, the actress Tina Modotti, and fourteen-year-old son Chandler. Weston had every reason to escape: his commercial portrait business had stalled, he was estranged from his wife Flora, and a pivotal meeting with Alfred Stieglitz in New York the previous year had reignited his passion to create personal work.
When several of his photographs on exhibit in Mexico City unexpectedly sold, Mexico began to appear the ideal place for adventure and respite. He arrived in the midst of the Mexican Renaissance, and over the next three years, came to maturity as an artist.
This exhibition, drawn from the collection of the Center for Creative Photography, will feature Edward Weston’s photographs of Mexico, as well as archival materials such as letters, news clippings, and snapshots, that help tell the story of his Mexican sojourn.
"a consummate technician with a marvelous eye for formal beauty"
The New York Times
Left: Edward Weston, San Pedro y San Pablo, 1924, Collection Center for Creative Photography, ©1981 Arizona Board of Regents [abstract staircase]. Right: Edward Weston, Colonia Condesa, 1925, Collection Center for Creative Photography,©1981 Arizona Board of Regents [street scene from rooftop].
This exhibition is organized by The Center for Creative Photography and Phoenix Art Museum