EDWARD WESTON (1886–1958)

Midway through the three-year period that Weston spent in Mexico, starting in 1923, the photographer embarked upon a short trip to the city of Tepotzotlán. During the Holy Week of April 1924, Weston was joined on this excursion by Tina Modotti, as well as a group of five others that comprised the artist Rafael Sala and his wife; the author Felipe Teixidor; Weston's son Chandler and Modotti's housekeeper, Elisa. As conveyed in the first volume of Weston's Daybooks, the photographer was quite taken by the cacti, maguey and 'crumbling walls' of the city, more so than capturing overall views of the resplendent 17th century churches and towers. Weston considered his preferred subject matter to be that which had not yet been 'exploited', noting: 'The most casual, superficial of tourists would exclaim in rapture over the church, "snap" it with their Kodaks, and then rush back to the hotel lobby'.

Although no other prints of this present lot have been located at the time of this writing, it is likely that Weston was referring to this particular image when he wrote in his Daybooks on April 24th, 1924: 'Printed more negatives from Tepotzotlán: a subtle, delicate print of a weather worn wall, quite different from the vigorous work I have been doing, pleases me...'. Weston later specified that of the 'twenty or so' negatives that he exposed from this short trip, at least ten of them he considered 'worthy' of printing in platinum (Edward Weston, The Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. I: Mexico, Aperture, Millerton, 1961, pp. 63-66).