Car Detail, Concours d'Elegance, Pebble Beach, California

Weston’s formal studies focus closely on a subject to remove it from its larger context, and highlight such properties as shape, contour, line, light, and shadow. His early interest in formal studies may have been inspired by the work of artists in his father’s circle in Mexico, such as Tina Modotti, whose photographs are celebrated for revealing the beauty in the quotidian through the abstraction of everyday objects.

Weston used this technique on a variety of subjects ranging from the organic to the inorganic. Some subjects remain identifiable, whereas others are more ambiguous. He employed a number of devices to render common objects strange, such as photo-graphing them from unexpected angles or through reflective surfaces.

Weston often photographed the fleeting effects of light as reflected off windows or other surfaces. Presenting the photographer’s own reflection in the chrome bumper of an automobile, this composition is one of the rare instances of Weston’s appearance in his work.