PAUL’S PHOTO Creative Photo Academy presents:
Pro Talk with Kim Weston "Growing Up Weston" Lecture and Discussion
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 7-9pm.
Creative Photo Academy
23845 Hawthorne Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90505
310-375-7014
Cost - Pro Talk Registration - $40
Pro Talk Annual Passholder (before 1/5) $30
Kim Weston is one of today’s eminent black and white, fine art nude photographers. Kim’s work captures the gamut of emotions and truly reflects his passions for living and the creative process. His images range from evocative self-portraits, complex sets to simple scenes. A master of the photographic process from concept to print, Kim Weston exemplifies what it means to be a fine-art photographer.
Kim Weston is a third generation photographer in one of the most famous photographic families. Weston’s grandfather Edward was one of the preeminent photographers of the 20th century. His uncle Brett made beautiful and thought provoking b&w landscapes. Kim’s father Cole taught photography to hundreds all over the world and loved working in color. Kim lives with his family on the Weston estate on Wildcat Hill in Carmel where Edward made some of his most iconic photographs.
"Growing Up Weston" had an influence on the photography, philosophy and life of Kim Weston. Join us for an evening where we will celebrate his rich Weston family history and learn how that history has influenced the art and photography of Kim Weston.
"Growing Up Weston" an Introduction by Brooks McChesney
Edward Weston was born in 1886 and got his 1st camera, a Bull’s Eye #2 when he was 16. I don’t know what it cost, but in 1900 a brownie went for $1.00. In 1906 after publication of his 1st image in Camera & Darkroom, he moved to California working as an itinerant photographer peddling his wares door to door photographing children, pets and funerals. After spending time in New York City, where he met Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand & Georgia O’Keefe he moved to Mexico City in 1923 to open a studio. Many important photos were completed in this period, and it was there that he met the painters Diego Rivera, David Siguerios and Jose Orozco, who hailed him as the master of 20th century art.
In his work he developed a preference for a straight, highly detailed presentation. Using large format equipment with lenses stopped down to the smallest aperture for maximum depth of field, He formulated a method that the Encyclopedia describes as “rendering the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh.” In 1929 Edward moved to Carmel & shot the 1st of many photographs of rocks & trees at Point Lobos as well as monumental close-ups of seashells, peppers and halved cabbages.
In 1932 he formed the renowned Group f/64 whose members included, among others, Ansel Adams, Willard Van Dyke and Imogene Cunningham. Edward’s son Brett was born in 1911 and he apprenticed with his father in Mexico City. There he was introduced to modern art forms and under his father’s tutelage he developed his technical precision, bold design and abstraction of form. At the time, Edward said that Brett was doing better work at 14 than he was doing at 30. And according to the curator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art “ Brett Weston was the child genius of modern photography.”
Brett’s brother Cole, and our speaker’s father, was born in 1919. After mustering out of the Navy following World War II and a short time working for Life magazine as a photographer, he returned to Carmel in 1946 to also apprentice with his father. During this period Eastman Kodak began sending their new color film, Kodachrome, to experiment with. Cole quickly mastered this new medium and eventually became one of the great masters of color photography. In a letter Cole wrote he said “After World War II my father asked me to come to Carmel to be his assistant. He had Parkinson’s and I worked with or saw my father every day until his death in 1958. In his will he specified that I could print from his negatives so long as the mounted print specified Negative by Edward Weston- Print by Cole Weston. And no print could sell for less than $30.
Kim Weston is a 3d generation member of the Weston tradition. Keeping to form, he apprenticed in the darkroom with his father and also worked alongside his uncle, Brett. For the past several years, he and his wife, Gina, have been sharing their photographic vision with other photographers and students at workshops they hold at Wildcat Hill, Edward Weston’s former home in the Highlands. And now, to tell us whether there will be a 4th generation Weston to carry the torch, I’m delighted to introduce today’s speaker, Kim Weston.