A towering figure in twentieth-century photography, Edward Weston sought to awaken human vision-- to lead viewers to "see through their eyes, not with them." His restless quest for beauty and the mystical presence behind it created a body of work unrivaled in the medium.

This volume of Aperture's Masters of Photography series offers Weston masterpieces drawn from photographs spanning more than four decades. Included are his early Pictorialist images; industrial studies of Armco Steel; stunning portraits from his Mexican period; the breakthrough still lifes and landscapes of the thirties; and the sometimes acerbic images of the later years.

R. H. Cravens's essay draws upon Weston's writings and recollections by sons, lovers, and friends. What emerges is the profile of "a thoroughly American genius-- courageous, pure, troubled, unorthodox, and utterly sure of its purpose."

The Aperture Masters of Photography series is devoted to those individuals whose achievements have accorded them vital importance in the history of the art form. Each volume presents a selection of the artist's greatest images. Published to Aperture's standard of excellence, the Masters of Photography series provides a comprehensive library of the artists who have shaped the medium.