Margrethe Mather

Margarethe Mather was already a photographer when she met Edward Weston in Los Angeles, in 1913. An accomplished photographic technician, she developed an elegant, spare style that was deceptively simple. Her use of empty space in portraits was groundbreaking. She worked with Weston in a photography studio and became his mentor and lover. Before leaving for Mexico with Tina Modotti in 1923, Weston made nude photographs of Mather that were prototypes of his later nudes of Charis, his second wife. Mather is best known for her portraits, still lifes, and nudes produced between 1915 and 1925. She moved to San Francisco in 1930. (IDEA Photographic)