Sand Dunes, Oceano, California

Edward Weston's extensive 1936 series of the dunes in Oceano, California, focuses on line and pattern, in this case the sinuous lines and rolling shapes created by the wind and tides on the sand. He and his fellow Bay Area photographers were early proponents of the large-format cameras and small aperture settings that produced maximum image sharpness and great depth of field. As a result, Weston's contact prints of his Oceano views possess a sparkling clarity in the highlights and a tonal richness in the shadows that transform the flowing topography into a stunning visual puzzle that is at once highly detailed yet very abstract.