(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Mary Tillotson. And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about the American photographer Edward Weston.
Edward Weston is one of the most recognized of all American photographers. He is probably most responsible for helping people to see photography as an art form.
Today, art experts consider photographers who took pictures like Mister Weston's to be part of the art movement called Modernism. The kind of photographs Mister Weston took are called "Straight Photography." No unusual effects were used to change the image of the subject. The photographs appear to show reality in a pure and clear way.
Yet, Mister Weston did not always use his camera to take pictures that way. At first, he took pictures influenced by the popular photographs of his time. Photographers, then, made pictures that did not appear sharp and clear. Instead, they appeared "soft." They were similar to painted pictures that tried to be beautiful, not realistic.
Edward Weston was born in Highland Park, Illinois, in eighteen eighty-six. When he was sixteen, his father gave him one of the early cameras made by the Kodak Company. Edward soon showed some of his photographs at the Chicago Art Institute.
In nineteen-oh-six, Edward Weston decided to move west where he worked for a railroad company. He briefly returned to Chicago to study at the Illinois College of Photography. But, he soon returned to California. He married Flora Chandler in nineteen-oh-nine. They later had four sons.
Edward Weston owned a store in the area of Glendale, California. He made and sold pictures of people. He also had some of his writing on photography published.
Several important photographers he met in southern California influenced him. Imogen Cunningham and Margrethe Mather were two of them. Miz Mather worked with Mister Weston on several pictures. Miz Cunningham praised Mister Weston's work. She gave moral support that led Mister Weston to seek out other photographic influences.
Edward Weston decided to travel to New York City in nineteentwenty-two. He wanted to meet the most influential American photographers in the East. He expected to be praised by members of the artistic community there.
Alfred Stieglitz was the most influential photographer in the United States at the time. He was the reason for Mister Weston's trip to New York City. He was responsible for a magazine called Camera Works. Mister Stieglitz helped many of the photographers whose work he liked, including Paul Strand and Ansel Adams.
Alfred Stieglitz met with Edward Weston two times. He did not say that he liked Mister Weston's work. Mister Stieglitz would point to some parts of the pictures he liked. Then he would point to something he did not like.
Edward Weston discovered an art community in New York that he had never imagined before. He met many people who, today, are recognized as important American photographers and artists. One of them was Georgia O'Keeffe.
Miz O'Keeffe became one of America's most famous woman painters. Mister Weston saw some of her work in New York. He wrote that he would remember it for many years to come.
Edward Weston felt good about his visit to New York, although he was criticized there. He wrote to a friend saying that his artistic sense was changing. He said Alfred Stieglitz had not changed him—only intensified him.
The photographer Ansel Adams said that in the early nineteen twenties Mister Weston had a growing business taking pictures of people. Yet, he gave up his business and left his family to travel to a foreign land. In February of nineteen twenty-three, Mister Weston wrote, "I leave for Mexico City in late March to start life anew."
Mister Weston traveled to Mexico with Tina Modotti. The two had developed a relationship in Los Angeles. Both were active in the artistic community of southern California. They spent most of three years in Mexico. At the time, many artists and writers were gathering in the Latin American country.
Mister Weston depended on Miz Modotti a great deal. With her help, Mister Weston was able to experience a cultural life that was completely foreign to him. He could not speak Spanish, so she helped him communicate.
For a time, the two had both a working and personal relationship. Mister Weston agreed to teach Miz Modotti photography. In return, she ran his photography business and helped organize shows.
Soon, Miz Modotti became a well-known photographer on her own. The two photographers met many famous Mexican artists during their stay. Painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo were among them. Miz Modotti photographed many of Mister Rivera's wall paintings. Mister Weston made one of his best-known pictures by capturing the intense expression of another Mexican painter, Jose Clemente Orozco.
In Mexico, Edward Weston started to sharpen the "Straight Photography" way of taking pictures that he had begun to develop before his trip to New York. He took pictures of people he met and of objects and buildings. His pictures appeared to represent the true nature of his subjects. He also took many photographs of cultural objects called folk art. At that time, many artists were reconsidering the importance of folk art. They began to realize that traditional forms of art are as important to culture as the art that normally is shown in museums.
Mister Weston's experience in Mexico changed his ideas about photography. He returned to California permanently in nineteen twenty-six to continue his own work. Miz Modotti became involved in political activism. She traveled to Europe to photograph the rise of Fascism there before she died mysteriously in nineteen forty-two.
After Edward Weston returned from Mexico he began producing fully developed work. He now made simple photographs that were sharp representations of their subjects.
A sea shell and a vegetable called a green pepper were the subjects of two of his most famous photographs. The idea he presented was that simple objects are, in fact, beautiful forms. He would often take pictures of rocks, coastlines, vegetable life and even the unclothed human body. Mister Weston's goal was to celebrate the beauty of shapes.
Edward Weston's life began to change. His marriage to Flora Chandler ended and he married Charis Wilson. They moved to Carmel, California. Mister Weston spent a lot of time at a nearby place on the coast called Point Lobos. Many of his best-known pictures show the beauty of the rocky coastline of northern California. His pictures often were of unusual rock formations. His new wife, Charis, was his most important model during this time.
In nineteen thirty-seven, Mister Weston received the highest honor of his lifetime. He was given the first Guggenheim Fellowship ever presented to a photographer. The award signaled that photographers were now considered "serious artists."
Edward Weston continued to work through the nineteen thirties and forties. Yet, he never earned much money. He lived in a small house that his sons built for him in Carmel, California. In nineteen forty-five, his second wife, Charis, left him.
Mister Weston had to stop work three years later. The effects of Parkinson's disease ended his ability to take photographs and process them. His sons took care of him until he died ten years later in nineteen fifty-eight.
Experts say that Edward Weston helped change the way Americans understood photography. Photography had been thought of mainly as a way to record information. Edward Weston showed that photographers worked to capture the same forms that other artists did in their search for beauty.
重点解析
1.be responsible for为...负责
The sun's ultraviolet rays are responsible for both tanning and burning.
阳光中的紫外线是皮肤晒黑和灼伤的根源。
2.similar to相似
Again the pregnancy was very similar to my previous two.
同样，这次怀孕和我前两次的情形非常相似。
3.in return作为回报
You pay regular premiums and in return the insurance company will pay out a lump sum.
你定期支付保险费，而保险公司则会一次性给你一笔钱作为回报。
4.take care of照顾
Don't worry yourself about me, I can take care of myself.
你别担心我，我能照顾好自己。
5.depend on依靠；依赖
Needy and handicapped people depend on government relief for their support.
穷人和残疾人依靠政府的救济维持生计。
6.seek out寻找
Now is the time for local companies to seek out business opportunities in Europe.
对于当地公司来说，现在是时候去欧洲寻求商机了。
参考译文
我是玛丽·蒂洛森，我是史蒂夫·恩伯，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述美国摄影师爱德华·韦斯顿的故事。
爱德华·韦斯顿美国最著名的摄影师之一。他可能是最主要的帮助人们把摄影视为一种艺术形式的人。
今天，艺术专家认为像韦斯顿先生这样拍照片的摄影师是现代主义艺术运动的一部分。韦斯顿先生的摄影被称为“纯碎摄影”。不使用任何不寻常的效果来改变主体的形象。这些照片以一种纯粹而清晰的方式展现了现实。
然而，韦斯顿先生并不总是用他的相机来那样拍照。起初，他的摄影受当时受欢迎的摄影师的影响。摄影师们拍摄的照片显得不清晰。相反，他们显得“柔和”。它们类似于绘画，试图变得美丽，而不是现实。
爱德华·韦斯顿于1886年出生在伊利诺斯州的海兰帕克。16岁时，父亲送给他一部柯达公司最早生产的相机之一。爱德华很快在芝加哥艺术学院展示了他的一些照片。
1906年，爱德华·韦斯顿决定搬到西部，在那里他为一家铁路公司工作。他暂时的回到芝加哥，在伊利诺斯摄影学院学习。但是，他很快就回到了加利福尼亚。他于1909年与弗洛拉·钱德勒结婚。后来他们有了四个儿子。
爱德华·韦斯顿在加州格伦代尔市拥有一家商店。他制作并出售人物照片。他还发表了一些关于摄影的文章。
他在南加州遇到的几个重要的摄影师影响了他。伊莫金·坎宁安和玛格丽特·马瑟就是其中的两位。马瑟女士与韦斯顿先生合作拍摄了几张照片。坎宁安女士赞扬了韦斯顿先生的作品。她给了韦斯顿先生精神上的支持，让他寻找其它摄影的影响。
爱德华韦斯顿1922年决定前往纽约市。他想去见东部最有影响力的摄影师。他希望得到那里艺术界人士的赞扬。
阿尔弗雷德·施蒂格利茨是当时美国最有影响力的摄影师。他是韦斯顿先生去纽约旅行的原因。他负责一本叫《相机作品》的杂志。斯蒂格里茨先生帮助了许多他喜欢的摄影师，包括保罗·斯特兰德和安塞尔·亚当斯。
阿尔弗雷德·施蒂格利茨见过爱德华·韦斯顿两次。他没有说自己喜欢韦斯顿先生的作品。施蒂格利茨会指出这些照片中他喜欢的的部分。然后他会指出他不喜欢的部分。
爱德华·韦斯顿在纽约发现了一个他从未想过的艺术社区。他遇到了许多今天被公认为美国重要摄影师和艺术家的人。乔治亚·奥基夫就是其中之一。
奥基夫女士成为美国最著名的女画家之一。韦斯顿先生在纽约看到了他的一些作品。他写道自己在未来多年里都不会忘记。爱德华·韦斯顿对他的纽约之旅感觉很好，尽管他在那里受到了批评。他给一个朋友写信说，他的艺术感觉正在改变。他说阿尔弗雷德·施蒂格利茨没有改变他-只有强化了他。
摄影师安塞尔·亚当斯说，在20世纪20年代初，韦斯顿先生拍摄人物照片的生意蒸蒸日上。然而，他放弃了他的生意，离开他的家庭去国外旅行。在1923年2月，韦斯顿先生写道，“我将在3月底前往墨西哥城开始新的生活。”
韦斯顿先生和蒂娜·莫多蒂一起去了墨西哥。两人之前在洛杉矶建立了关系。他们两位在南加州的艺术界都很活跃。他们在墨西哥生活了三年。当时，许多艺术家和作家聚集在这个拉丁美洲国家。
韦斯顿先生非常依赖莫多蒂小姐。在她的帮助下，韦斯顿先生可以体验对他来说完全陌生的文化生活。韦斯顿不会说西班牙语，所以她帮助他沟通。
有一段时间，两人既有工作关系，也有私人关系。韦斯顿先生同意教莫多蒂女士摄影。作为回报，她经营他的摄影业务，并帮助组织展出。
很快，莫多蒂自己也成为一个著名的摄影师。他们在墨西哥时去见了很多有名的墨西哥艺术家。画家迭戈·里维拉和弗里达·卡罗就是其中之一。莫多蒂女士拍摄了许多里维拉先生的壁画。韦斯顿先生拍摄了另一位墨西哥画家何塞·克莱门特·奥罗斯科的紧张表情，这是他最著名的作品之一。
在墨西哥，爱德华·韦斯顿开始强化“纯粹摄影”的摄影方式，这种摄影方式在他去纽约之前就已经开发了。他给他遇到的人、物体和建筑物拍照。他的画似乎反映了他作品的真实本质。他还拍摄了许多被称为民间艺术的文化物品的照片。当时，许多艺术家都在重新思考民间艺术的重要性。他们开始意识到，对文化来说，传统艺术形式和通常在博物馆展示的艺术同样重要。
韦斯顿在墨西哥的经历改变了他对摄影的看法。他在1926年永远地回到加州继续他自己的工作。莫多蒂女士参与了政治活动。她前往欧洲拍摄法西斯主义的崛起，然后在1942年神秘地去世。
爱德华·韦斯顿从墨西哥回来后，开始创作完全成熟的作品。现在，他制作了一些简单的照片，清晰地表达了它们的主题。
海贝和青椒是他最著名的两张照片的主题。他呈现的观点是简单的物体实际上是美丽的形式。他经常拍摄石头、海岸线蔬菜的照片，甚至还有裸体。韦斯顿先生的目标是称赞形状之美。
爱德华·韦斯顿的生活开始改变了。他和弗洛拉·钱德勒的婚姻结束了，而后他和查理丝·威尔逊结婚了。他们搬到了加利福尼亚的卡梅尔。韦斯顿先生在海岸附近的一个叫罗伯士角的地方呆了很长时间。他很多最著名的照片都展示了北加州岩石海岸线的美丽。他经常拍摄不寻常的岩层。那段时间，他的新妻子，查理丝是他最重要的模特。
1937年，韦斯顿先生得到了他生命中最高的荣誉。他获得了古根海姆基金会颁发给摄影师的第一份奖学金。这个奖项说明了摄影师开始被视为严肃的艺术家。
爱德华·韦斯顿在20世纪三四十年代继续着自己的工作。然而，他从来没有挣到过很多钱。他住在加利福尼亚州卡梅尔，他的儿子们为他建造的一所小房子里。1945年，他的第二任妻子查理斯离开了他。
韦斯顿不得不在三年后停止工作。帕金森病让他不能再拍摄和处理照片了。他的儿子照顾着他，直到他十年后在1958年去世。
专家称，爱德华·韦斯顿帮助改变了美国人对摄影的理解。摄影主要被认为是记录信息的一种方式。爱德华·韦斯顿向我们展示了摄影师在捕捉美的过程中所采用的手法，它与其他艺术家在寻找美的过程中所采用的手法是一样的。
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