How did Edward Weston’s technique change between about 1930 and 1933?

Between approximately 1930 and 1933, Edward Weston developed his mature technique by shifting away from soft-textured papers and slow, luxurious tonal gradations. He adopted a vocabulary characteristic of industrial photography, which emphasized all-over sharpness, a full tonal scale, and smooth surface papers designed to record the maximum amount of both tone and texture.1

During this period, Weston primarily utilized an 8 × 10-inch view camera, printing his negatives by contact, though he occasionally employed a handheld Graflex camera for portraits and nudes to allow for quicker responses to his subjects. This technical evolution aligned with his involvement in Group f.64, a collective formed in 1932 that advocated for "pure" or "straight" photography—a style defined by sharp focus and unmanipulated documentation that stood in direct opposition to the soft-focused, academic style of Pictorialism.12