Ruth Bernhard

I mentioned Ruth Bernhard in one of the first posts on this blog and I thought I should show a few of her photographs. She lived to be 101 years old. A chance meeting with Edward Weston in the 1935 was a life changing event for her. He became her mentor and taught her the art of photography. I could go on about her and her work but better to show you a little of it and allow her to comment.

The human body represents to me the same universal innocence, timelessness and purity of all seed pods, suggesting the mother as well as the child, the parental as well as the descendant, conceived according to nature’s longings.
Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006)

If I have chosen the female form in particular, it is because beauty has been debased and exploited in our sensual 20th century. Woman has been the subject of much that is sordid and cheap, especially in photography. To raise, to elevate, to endorse with timeless reverence the image of woman has been my mission.

My quest, through the magic of light and shadow, is to isolate, to simplify and to give emphasis to form with the greatest clarity. To indicate the ideal proportion, to reveal sculptural mass and the dominating spirit is my goal.”

Ms. Bernhard worked almost exclusively in a studio. Because I work outdoors, this last photo of hers is one of my favorites. It is called Sand Dune and proves that the human body is a part of all of outdoors, even when it is temporarily inside a building.