Background
Cole Weston was born on January 30, 1919, in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Cole Weston at Pt. Lobos
Cole Weston
Cole Weston was born on January 30, 1919, in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Cole Weston received his first camera, a 4 by 5 Autograflex, from his brother Brett in 1935. He graduated with a degree in theater arts from the Cornish School (now Cornish College of the Arts (CCA)) in Seattle in 1937 and then served in the Navy during World War II as a welder and photographer.
After his discharge from the Navy in 1945, Cole Weston worked for Life Magazine. In 1946 he moved to Carmel to assist his father Edward. During this time Eastman Kodak started sending their new color film, Kodachrome, for Edward to try out. He took this opportunity to experiment with this new medium and eventually became one of the world’s great masters of fine art color photography.
In 1957 Cole Weston began shooting his first color photographs of the magnificent Big Sur coast, Monterey Peninsula, and central California. At this time he carried on his own portrait business while assisting his ailing father, who passed away in 1958. Edward had authorized Cole to print from Edward’s negatives after his death, so Cole continued printing Edward’s work while pursuing his own fine art photography.
In 1975 Cole Weston began lecturing and conducting workshops on his father’s photography as well as his own. With his work in the theater arts, he was a natural when it came to teaching and lecturing and his many students still comment on what a great workshop he gave. He traveled throughout the United States, England, Europe, Russia, Mexico, New Zealand, and the South Pacific photographing and inspiring others with his characteristic enthusiasm and charm.
In 1988 after three decades devoted to printing his father’s work, Cole Weston at last set aside his responsibility to Edward’s legacy and refocused on his own photography. Cole had his first solo exhibition in San Francisco in 1971. Since then, his work has been featured in more than sixty exhibitions worldwide and has been collected by museums throughout the United States and Europe.
Quotations: "I’m a color photographer. That’s what I do. Whether you like it or not, that’s what I do. There is nothing wrong with black and white, but I am into color. And I like it!"
Quotes from others about the person
Cole Weston has produced color landscapes "that stand solidly within the tradition of American landscape painting," according to Ben Maddow (Eighteen Photographs).