Dunes, Oceano

1936

Dunes, Oceano, 1936. Edward Weston (American, 1886–1958). Gelatin silver print; image: 19.1 x 24.1 cm (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.); mounted: 33.4 x 40.6 cm (13 1/8 x 16 in.); matted: 45.7 x 55.9 cm (18 x 22 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2001.92 © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Weston's images hover between representation, abstraction, and metaphor. His sharply focused view of this natural phenomenon becomes a rhythmic design of darks and lights, gentle curves, and crisp edges. The hills of sand echo the waves of the sea, visible at the top of the picture, and engulf the viewer in their sensuous undulations. Edward Weston’s views of the dunes near Oceano, California, were a definitive break from earlier, more narrative depictions of Western landscapes.