Aperture, No. 140. Edward Weston Portraits. Summer 1995.

Aperture, 1995. Stiff wraps, fine. Foreword by Cole Weston. Biographical essay by Susan Morgan.  Unpaginated, about 80 pages.  Includes many full page portraits of identified sitters, including Margrethe Mather, Tina Modotti, Charis Wilson, Igor Stravinsky, Sadakichi Hartmann, David McAlpin, Imogen Cunningham, E.E. Cummings, Arnold Schoenberg, James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Isamu Noguchi, Sonya Noskowiak, Miriam Lerner, Jo Davidson, Robinson Jeffers, José Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, D.H. Lawrence, et al.  Summary:

Aperture No. 140, published in Summer 1995, is devoted to the portrait work of Edward Weston, offering a focused examination of a side of his photography that is often overshadowed by his famous still lifes, nudes, and landscapes. The issue brings together a carefully curated selection of Weston’s portraits alongside critical essays and historical commentary that situate these images within his broader artistic practice.

The magazine explores how Weston approached portraiture not as a means of flattery or social documentation, but as a rigorous study of form, character, and presence. His portraits—of artists, writers, family members, and cultural figures—are marked by stark clarity, strong lighting, and an unyielding attention to structure. Rather than emphasizing narrative or personality in a conventional sense, Weston sought what he considered the essential qualities of his subjects, often rendering them with an intensity that can feel both intimate and austere. The issue highlights portraits of figures such as Tina Modotti, Diego Rivera, and others from Weston’s artistic circle, showing how his personal relationships influenced his photographic vision.

The essays in this issue underscore the significance of Edward Weston as one of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century. Weston was a central figure in the development of modernist photography in the United States and a founding member of Group f/64, which championed sharp focus, rich tonal range, and “straight photography” as an art form in its own right. His rejection of pictorialism and embrace of photographic purity reshaped how photography was understood and practiced, emphasizing the camera’s ability to reveal form and detail with unprecedented precision.

By concentrating on Weston’s portraits, Aperture No. 140 reveals how these images embody the same principles that define his better-known work: formal rigor, respect for the subject, and a belief in photography’s power to transform the ordinary into something profound. The issue ultimately presents Weston not only as a master of form, but as a photographer whose portraits contribute significantly to the history of modern photography by redefining how the human subject can be seen through the lens.