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THE PHOTOGRAPHER

194826 min 40 sec180 shots

This black-and-white film follows photographer Edward Weston at home, on outdoor trips through California, and at work with a student. Coastal rocks, sand dunes, mountains, farms, desert landscapes, mining ruins, and portraits show the range of subjects that attract him. Weston uses a view camera, light meter, lenses, filters, and careful adjustments of focus and exposure to select the forms and details he wants. The film explains that technical skill must serve the photographer’s own thoughts, feelings, patience, and way of seeing.

In his simple darkroom, Weston exposes and develops a contact print, repeating the process if the result does not match what he intended. A brief history places his work among that of earlier photographers, including Louis Daguerre, David Octavius Hill, Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar, Mathew Brady, Eugène Atget, and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as contemporaries such as Ansel Adams and Walker Evans. The closing scenes return to the Pacific coast and describe Weston as an American artist who shares the beauty he finds in his country through photographs.

Provenance and rights

Original producer: National Archives and Records Administration
Collection: NARA ARC mirror / FedFlix
Original title: THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Date: 1948
Original link: Open on Internet Archive
Rights: public_domain