Nautilus (photograph)
Encyclopedia
Nautilus is a black-and-white photograph taken by Edward Weston
in 1927 of a single nautilus
shell standing on its end against a dark background. It has been called "one of the most famous photographs ever made" and "a benchmark of modernism in the history of photography."
In February, 1927, Weston visited the studio of local Carmel artist Henrietta Shore
and noticed several paintings she had made of sea shells. Only one of these paintings is known to still exist (as of January, 2011), and it shows a stark and solitary nautilus on a dark field, not unlike Weston's resulting photographs. He made it clear in his writings that the paintings had a profound effect on him:
Within a month he began photographing several different large chambered nautiluses, either whole or cut in half to reveal their inner structure. He used his Ansco 8 X 10 Commercial view camera with a Rapid Rectilinear lens stopped down to US256 (equivalent to f/64) . Notations he made about his exposures during this period indicate that the film he used would be rated approximately equivalent to 16 on today's ISO scale
.
Due to the technical limitations of the film and the camera he used, he was forced to make extremely long exposures that were easily ruined by vibrations. Weston's son Kim Weston
said his father propped up the shell on the end of an oil drum (the arc of the drum can barely be seen in the background of the image), and the thin metal oil drum head was sensitive to the slightest movement. Weston expressed his frustrations in his 'Daybooks:
He recorded that over the next several months he made fourteen negatives of shells. It's not known exactly when he took this particular image, but it had to have been made between April 1 and June 8, 1927, when he recorded in his journal "Last evening I had printed, and am ready to show all shell negatives…".
Nautilus is now recognized as one of Weston's greatest photographs, but all of his images of shells have a greater-than-life quality to them. Weston biographer Ben Maddow has said that what is so remarkable about them "is not in the closeness nor in the monumentality of the forms; or at least, not in these alone. It is instead in the particular light, almost an inward luminescence, that he saw implicit in them before he put them before the lens. Glowing with an interior life . .. one is seeing more than form."
One historian wrote "The nautilus shells proved a turning point in Weston’s career and marked a critical phase in his development as one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, a pioneering modernist whose stunning simplicity and technical mastery are often imitated but never quite equaled." "
Much has been said about Weston's intentions in photographing shells. He recorded that some of the first people to see them had intensely erotic reactions:
At the same time, Weston strongly denied in his writings that he had any thought, much less intention, of recording erotic symbolism:
Yet, in another entry about one of his nude images he said "I saw the repeated curves of thigh and calf, ‒ the shin bone, knee and thigh lines forming shapes not unlike great sea shells…"
Weston wrote that he made twenty-eights prints of this image on at least four different types of paper , including a matte Kodak Azo and a semi-gloss Agfa Convira. In a few early versions he extended the bottom margin of the image down to the notches on the film negative. Most prints measure approximately 9 1/2 by 7 1/2 in. (24 by 19 cm.)
On April 13, 2010, a print of this image made by Weston in year it was taken sold for $1,082,500 at an auction in New York. As of October, 2011, it was the twelfthmost expensive photograph ever sold. Weston originally sold it for $10.
Prints of this image are now in the collections of the Center for Creative Photography
, the George Eastman House
and the Museum of Modern Art
.
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
in 1927 of a single nautilus
Nautilus
Nautilus is the common name of marine creatures of cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in two genera, the type of which is the genus Nautilus...
shell standing on its end against a dark background. It has been called "one of the most famous photographs ever made" and "a benchmark of modernism in the history of photography."
In February, 1927, Weston visited the studio of local Carmel artist Henrietta Shore
Henrietta Shore
Henrietta Shore was a post-impressionist Canadian painter who exhibited contemporaneously with Georgia O'Keeffe and influenced the photographer Edward Weston. Her media were oils, murals, watercolors, and lithographs....
and noticed several paintings she had made of sea shells. Only one of these paintings is known to still exist (as of January, 2011), and it shows a stark and solitary nautilus on a dark field, not unlike Weston's resulting photographs. He made it clear in his writings that the paintings had a profound effect on him:
- "I was awakened to shells by the painting of Henry [Henrietta Shore]. I never saw a Chambered Nautilus before. If I had, my response would have been immediate. If I merely copy Henry's expression, my work will not live. If I am stimulated and work with real ecstasy it will live."
Within a month he began photographing several different large chambered nautiluses, either whole or cut in half to reveal their inner structure. He used his Ansco 8 X 10 Commercial view camera with a Rapid Rectilinear lens stopped down to US256 (equivalent to f/64) . Notations he made about his exposures during this period indicate that the film he used would be rated approximately equivalent to 16 on today's ISO scale
Film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system....
.
Due to the technical limitations of the film and the camera he used, he was forced to make extremely long exposures that were easily ruined by vibrations. Weston's son Kim Weston
Kim Weston
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ".-Career:...
said his father propped up the shell on the end of an oil drum (the arc of the drum can barely be seen in the background of the image), and the thin metal oil drum head was sensitive to the slightest movement. Weston expressed his frustrations in his 'Daybooks:
- Wednesday, June 15: "Yesterday I tried again: result, movement! The exposure was 4 1/2 hours, so to repeat was no joy, with all the preoccupation of keeping quiet children and cat, ‒ but I went ahead and await development."
- The next day: "The shells again moved! It must be the heavy trucks that pass jar the building ever so slightly. Anyway, I have quit trying: I can afford no more film."
He recorded that over the next several months he made fourteen negatives of shells. It's not known exactly when he took this particular image, but it had to have been made between April 1 and June 8, 1927, when he recorded in his journal "Last evening I had printed, and am ready to show all shell negatives…".
Nautilus is now recognized as one of Weston's greatest photographs, but all of his images of shells have a greater-than-life quality to them. Weston biographer Ben Maddow has said that what is so remarkable about them "is not in the closeness nor in the monumentality of the forms; or at least, not in these alone. It is instead in the particular light, almost an inward luminescence, that he saw implicit in them before he put them before the lens. Glowing with an interior life . .. one is seeing more than form."
One historian wrote "The nautilus shells proved a turning point in Weston’s career and marked a critical phase in his development as one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century, a pioneering modernist whose stunning simplicity and technical mastery are often imitated but never quite equaled." "
Much has been said about Weston's intentions in photographing shells. He recorded that some of the first people to see them had intensely erotic reactions:
- Tina ModottiTina ModottiTina Modotti was an Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist.- Early life :Modotti was born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini in Udine, Friuli, Italy...
: Edward ‒ nothing in art has affected like these photographs. I cannot look at them very long without feeling exceedingly perturbed, they disturb me not only mentally but physically. There is something so pure and at the same time so perverse about them…, They are mystical and erotic."
- Diego RiveraDiego RiveraDiego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
(as described by Tina Modotti): "These photographs are biological, beside the aesthetic emotion they disturb me physically, ‒ see my forehead is sweating. Then ‒ 'Is W. very sensual?'"
- Rene d'HarnoncourtRene d'HarnoncourtRene d'Harnoncourt was an art curator, and a Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 1949 to 1967....
(as described by Tina Modotti): "Without my saying a word he used 'erotic' also. Like me, he expressed the disturbance these prints caused in him. He felt 'weak at the knees'."
At the same time, Weston strongly denied in his writings that he had any thought, much less intention, of recording erotic symbolism:
- "No! I had no physical thoughts, ‒ never have. I worked with clearer decision of sheer aesthetic form. I knew I was recording from within, my feeling for life as I never has before. Or better, when the negatives were actually developed, I realized what I felt, ‒ for when I worked, I was never more unconscious of what I was doing.
- No! The Shells are too much a sublimation of all of my works and life to be pigeon-holed. Others must get from them what they bring to them: evidently they do!"
Yet, in another entry about one of his nude images he said "I saw the repeated curves of thigh and calf, ‒ the shin bone, knee and thigh lines forming shapes not unlike great sea shells…"
Weston wrote that he made twenty-eights prints of this image on at least four different types of paper , including a matte Kodak Azo and a semi-gloss Agfa Convira. In a few early versions he extended the bottom margin of the image down to the notches on the film negative. Most prints measure approximately 9 1/2 by 7 1/2 in. (24 by 19 cm.)
On April 13, 2010, a print of this image made by Weston in year it was taken sold for $1,082,500 at an auction in New York. As of October, 2011, it was the twelfthmost expensive photograph ever sold. Weston originally sold it for $10.
Prints of this image are now in the collections of the Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
, the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
.