I was sitting in the garden reading one day when this extremely persistent wasp appeared. I don’t like killing things – even stinging insects so I brushed it away. It disappeared for a while and then returned. I brushed it away again, and again, and again…and it just kept coming back. Since it seemed determined to be there I decided to take a picture of it. Once I’d taken the picture it flew away, never to return. Must have been just coincidental – right?
I liked the way the picture came out. The ridged surface of our patio table looks to me a little like waves. The wasp is a bit fuzzy, but then not everything needs to be in focus.
Interesting (26 minute) documentary on Edward Weston. It’s actually quite low on specifics regarding Weston himself, focusing more on photography generally and the photographic process than on the photographer himself. There’s even a short section highlighting some of the giants of photography (e.g. Daguerre, David Octavius Hill, Matthew Brady, Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz etc.). Worth seeing, but it’s good that it wasn’t longer.
For more information about Weston I found Edward Weston, by Terrence Pitts to be an inexpensive, but quite thorough introduction with lots of Weston’s pictures on display as well as some interesting essays.
Edward Weston is one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. From his lifetime up until today, several decades after his death, Weston and his body of work hold an important place in the history of photography.
Produced in 1948 by the United States Information Service, “The Photographer” is a short yet information-laden documentary on Weston’s life and work. It follows Weston from his home to workplace and back, while the voice over provides commentary on the photographer’s character, inclinations, and creative process, among many other things. Clocking in at under half an hour, “The Photographer,” directed by Willard Van Dyke who also used to be an apprentice of the photographer, is a short but insightful look at Weston’s craft.
Interestingly, just shortly after the release of this video, Weston had to stop photographing as his affliction with Parkinson’s Disease caused him to no longer be able to use his large format cameras. In a rather cruel twist, Weston made his final image this same year.
Although not a particularly startling photograph I wanted to record this, to me, remarkable tree. The picture shows a single tree! Not two different trees! It’s actually one tree with two quite different colored blossoms. I’ve never seen such a thing before and didn’t even realize that this is possible.
I’m not entirely sure why I like this one. Maybe it’s the simplicity – there’s nothing much to complicate the picture? Or maybe its the contrast between the rather smooth chairs and the more textured stone? Maybe it’s the lines of the wires in the chairs? Whatever it is I do like it.
