PARIS.- The MEP presents Becoming Modern, the most significant exhibition dedicated to Edward Weston in Paris in nearly thirty years. A pioneering figure of photographic modernism, Weston helped forge a new visual language—marked by clarity, formal rigor, and a profound engagement with the essential qualities of the photographic medium.

Originating from an idea by Michael Wilson—founder of the Wilson Centre for Photography in London and one of the world’s foremost collectors— Becoming Modern brings together a rare selection of vintage prints from his collection, many of which have never been exhibited in France. These works offer an exceptional insight into Weston’s evolving practice and the emergence of a distinctly photographic modernism.

Spanning more than three decades, from 1908 to 1945, the exhibition traces Weston’s artistic trajectory. His early pictorialist photographs, created in California during the 1910s and early 1920s, draw upon 19th-century artistic traditions, employing soft focus, carefully staged settings, and symbolic imagery. Over time, his vision transformed: his images became sharper, compositions more austere, with an increasing emphasis on form, surface, and structure.

By the 1920s, many of his photographs approached geometric abstraction— though Weston was never confined to a single style. This transformation unfolded gradually, as motifs intertwined and techniques evolved in a subtle, ongoing dialogue, revealing an artist continuously refining and deepening his vision.

Highlights include works from Weston’s time in Mexico, where, in close collaboration with Tina Modotti—an artist, political activist, and his lover— he created portraits and nudes imbued with a newfound freedom and radicalism These are complemented by evocative landscapes of the dramatic California coastline near Point Lobos and Carmel. At the heart of the exhibition are his most iconic series: sensuous close-up studies of natural forms—peppers, shells, fruits, and vegetables—captured with an almost obsessive intensity; dune and rock landscapes from Point Lobos and Death Valley; and luminous nudes of his muse, Charis Wilson. Throughout, Weston reveals the universal beauty of everyday subjects, transforming them into pure, sculptural forms. Recurring themes—portraiture, the nude, still life, and nature—are placed in dialogue, uncovering deeper connections across his œuvre. His work displays remarkable strength and variety, with many natural forms taking on subtle anthropomorphic qualities.

Becoming Modern invites audiences to rediscover a bold innovator whose visionary approach helped shape the course of photographic history. The exhibition also includes a selection of rare works by leading pictorialist photographers, offering a broader context for Weston’s early influences and the artistic milieu from which his modernism emerged.

Widely regarded as one of the masters of 20th-century photography, Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) reshaped the medium through a vision rooted in clarity, form, and a profound sensitivity to the physical world. Over a career spanning more than forty years, he forged a style that was both radically modern and deeply grounded in the landscapes and materials of the American West.

Curators:

Simon Baker & Laurie Hurwitz, MEP
Polly Fleury & Hope Kingsley, Wilson Centre for Photography

Production manager:

Elisa Monteillet, MEP.