Cole Weston

Before his death in 2003, Cole Weston was devoted to keeping both bodies of work flourishing and circulating widely.

Cole Weston studied at Cornish College of the Arts. Work by Cole Weston is recorded in the collections of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Auckland Art Gallery and J. Paul Getty Museum.

• Name — Cole Weston • Born — January 30, 1919 • Died — 20 April 2003 • Place of death — Monterey, California • Known for — Fine Art Photography • Notable Works — Surf and Headlands • Parents — * Edward Weston (1886–1958) • Flora Weston • Relatives — * 4 including Brett Weston (1911–1993) (brother) • Children — Ivor Weston, Rhys Weston, Cara Weston (photographer) • Kim Weston (photographer) 1953–) Matthew Weston, Richard Weston, Erin Lamson. • Spouse — Dorothy Hermann, Helen Prosser, Margaret Woodward, Paulette Stubbs

Cole graduated with a degree in theater arts from the Cornish School in Seattle in 1937. Cole served in the United States Navy during World War II as a welder and photographer in Norman, OK. He ran for Congress in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket, but was unsuccessful.

Upon his discharge from the navy, Cole started photographing for Life in Southern California. At the same time, Edward became increasingly crippled by Parkinson's disease and wrote to Cole asking for his help with the printing of his negatives; and so, in 1946, Cole and his wife moved to Carmel to help his ailing father in his darkroom and studio. Cole and his brother Brett Weston printed their father's negatives under his supervision. At the time, Eastman Kodak sent their new color films Kodachrome and Ektachrome to Edward because they wanted him to "photograph Point Lobos in color" to which Edward responded: "Well, I don’t know anything about color, but I know Point Lobos better than any man alive". With the leftover film, Cole began experimenting with the new medium and, in 1957, he created his first color prints of the California coastline. "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!"

• Illustration — Cole Weston Statue at the Forest Theater, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California In 1971, Cole Weston established the second Forest Theater Guild in Carmel, CA and began directing productions on the outdoor stage during spring and summer months. Weston worked with the Forest Theater Guild for 50 years in which he directed more than 30 plays and was involved with the physical construction of the Indoor Forest Theater (a small theater beneath the outdoor stage) "hauling in the concrete and other building materials himself".

In his will, Edward Weston left his negatives to Cole, who printed them for more than 30 years. On September 30, 2014, a collection of 548 prints from Edward's negatives, printed posthumously by Cole, was auctioned by Sotheby's in New York.