How did Edward Weston develop a style focused on photography rather than painting?

Edward Weston’s transition from the Pictorialist style—which imitated painting by suppressing detail and manipulating images—to a uniquely photographic aesthetic was a gradual process of artistic evolution.1

Initially, Weston was a successful participant in conservative photographic salons, producing work that followed the Pictorialist tradition. However, beginning in the early 1920s, he grew impatient with these conventions and began seeking an aesthetic that addressed the specific qualities of photography rather than those of painting.1

His development was marked by several key shifts:

• Conceptual Change: He moved toward a broader, more vernacular definition of subject matter, initially experimenting with forcefulness of design and the flat picture plane before abandoning Pictorialist content entirely.1
• Technical Shift: By the early 1930s, he adopted the vocabulary of an industrial photographer, utilizing all-over sharpness, a full tonal scale, and smooth papers to record maximum detail. He favored large-format 8×10-inch view cameras, stopped down to the smallest aperture to achieve maximum depth of field.12
• Purist Philosophy: Weston rejected cropping or hand-work on the negative, insisting that the final image be composed in the camera prior to exposure. This commitment to "straight" photography led him to co-found Group f.64 in 1932, which championed sharp, unmanipulated imagery.21