Celery-heart

Although Weston's first work with objects, such as vegetables and shells, was an outgrowth of his experiences in Mexico from 1923-1926, he did not clearly begin to fully develop this interest until 1930. After his return to California in 1927, he continued making negatives of natural forms that attracted him, like the nautilus shell and the swiss chard. However in 1930, Weston's attention seemed to focus more acutely toward these organic forms. In addition to his obsession with the pepper's sensuality, he turned his camera to other evocative vegetal subjects like the banana, cabbage and celery, focusing on their abstract qualities. In a sense, and perhaps unconsciously, he related them to his female nudes from this period through similar framing. In his Daybooks of September 1930 Weston writes, "Getting closer - using a 5 inch Cooke lens on the 8 x 10 - making the heart of an artichoke to fill the entire plate - a celery heart becomes heroic - a new field is opening to me - on the horizon I see a microscope! Celery is great material: the stalk done close - a twisted tree trunk - white as a palm - fluted like great pillars. I see celery as a staple, even as peppers have been!" (Daybooks II, p. 187.)