The world unobstructed

See with your eyes, not your camera

For other examples:

Lewis Baltz p. 27

Melanie Einzig p. 103

American photographer Edward Weston saw the world differently to everyone else. That’s what made him one of the all-time masters of photography. But if Weston had spent all his time looking through the lens, rather than seeing, this humble pepper would have been eaten long before he transformed it into one of the most famous photographs of the twentieth century.

Great photographs are the result of seeing with your eyes. If you’re too quick to pick up your camera, you’ll risk seeing nothing. In fact, the act of looking through your camera should be the very last piece of the puzzle.

Sometimes, leave the camera in the bag and just spend the day seeing.

So what did Edward Weston see in Pepper #30 that made him want to photograph it? Two figures embracing? The arch of a person’s back? A strongman flexing his muscles? Or just a beautifully abstract form in its own right?

More to the point, what do you see in Pepper #30?