Nettie, Margethe, and Weston

Nettie Harris by Clay Lipsky

Here's another photo of one of my favorite contemporary models, Nettie Harris. This photo is by Clay Lipsky. It reminds me of the photos Edward Weston took of Margrethe Mather in the 1920s.

At the time, Weston had devote his career to photography. He'd built a small studio in his backyard, and hung out his shingle as a portrait photographer for hire. His portraits would begin to earn him more clients and a reputation as an emerging talent, but Weston never really truly enjoyed them. For him they were commercial work, not art. His true heart was in artistic photography. 

Already, he began to master the dreamy, soft-tone style of the Pictorialists. He'd met Margrethe Mather, who he found bohemian and beguiling. She introduced Weston to artists, and inspired him to follow his artistic dreams. Many art critics have suggested that it was Margrethe who exposed Weston to an Asian influence, specifically a Japanese Zen style, and the famous woodblocks. But regardless of who first introduced it to who, they both, together, explored the aesthetic, as can be seen in Weston's nudes of Margrethe in his studio.

Weston and Mather became intimate, though the relationship was short and intense. Some say Magrethe was more into women at the time, and the sexual relationship to the married Weston, more out of creative affinity than romantic love.

They made one short trip out to the coast, to Redondo beach in LA. There, they made a short series of nudes in the sand. These are some of Weston's least known nudes--but they truly would begin a life-long theme for Weston of outdoor nudes, and in many ways be the forerunners of what are considered perhaps his most iconic nudes of his career: the Oceano Dunes nude session with Charis Wilson in 1934.

Shortly after Weston and Margrethe took their first, and only outdoor nudes at Redondo Beach, they broke up. Weston wanted to head to Mexico, where there was a vibrant, revolutionary art scene, including the likes of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. 

But while they were still together, and still very much in the fiery transfixed moment of two artists engaged in the beginnings of promising artistic careers, their friend (who was then and remains one of the greatest photographers of all time, Imogen Cunningham), took their photo, perfectly capturing the essence of their shared artistic passion.

Margrethe Mather by Edward Weston, 1923 (In his studio in Glendale, Ca.)

Margrethe Mather by Edward Weston, 1923 (In his studio in Glendale, Ca.)

Margrethe Mather by Edward Weston, 1923 (At Redondo Beach, Ca.)

Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston, 1923 (by their friend Imogen Cunningham)