Working with the nude is a new element in my photography, as of 2003, and is something that I have had the desire to start doing for a long time. As always, life is busy and I just never seemed to get started down this path. Then one day, I found the website of Kim Weston showing great images and offering what appeared to be very exciting workshops. In May of 2003, I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in one of these nude photography workshops. It turned out to be a great experience!
Kim Weston is the third generation of a family that has contributed immensely to art and photography. His grandfather Edward Weston, his uncle Brett Weston, and his father Cole Weston have all given us great works of art and inspired a countless number of artists with their passion and enthusiasm. Kim is now carrying on the legacy adding a whole new dimension to the contributions of the Weston family. This all takes place at Wildcat Hill, Edward Weston's former home in the Carmel Highlands of California, where Kim and his wife Gina live, work, conduct workshops and provide a unique insight into the Weston family history.
Although my primary reason for taking the workshop was to learn about photographing the nude, it was also exciting to be able to experience Wildcat Hill where Edward Weston once lived and worked and where Gina and Kim, today, with their great spirits, enthusiasm and hospitality, make their valuable contributions to art and art education. It is indeed very fortunate that Gina and Kim are living at Wildcat Hill. They have managed to strike a remarkable balance between retaining the history of the place and making it their own lively place with an amazing atmosphere.
The workshop I participated in was the 8x10" large format nude workshop. This is a small, intimate and focused workshop with four participants, two instructors and two models. The amazing ratio of models and instructors to participants makes this workshop really great, leaving plenty of time for individual instruction and photography. This is something most workshops do not offer. Kim instructed the workshop together with Randy Efros who is also a great artist and teacher. For a number of years, Randy worked as an assistant to Brett Weston and, therefore, has many interesting insights to share about Brett's work. Kim and Randy are both very passionate about their art but are also good at appreciating the artistic vision of others. Moreover, they have a great sense of humor, and are open minded, helpful and full of energy. In addition, the models were really great, very helpful and engaged in the work. Last but not least, Gina made it all come together. The result was a great and productive workshop experience.
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The main portion of the workshop revolved around the complete creation of an image from idea, through photography, to finished print. This involved 8x10" camera instruction, photographing models, developing 8x10" negatives, printing and print mounting. It was amazing that each of us could start out from scratch and end up with a finished print in just a few short days. At the end I was very happy because I could see that I had made something new and because I had learned so much along the way by doing rather than just watching.
In addition, the workshop involved a field trip to Point Lobos, informal lectures about Weston photography history, looking at work of Kim, Randy, Edward, Brett and Cole, student portfolio critique, and a party with guest artists showing and discussing their work.
On one evening of the workshop, Gina and Kim hosted a party where they had invited a number of other artists over to show and discuss their work. The guest artists that evening, Huntington Witherill, Ryuijie, Martha Casanave, Winston Boyer and
Arthur Tress, represent a wide variety of different work based on very different approaches and methods. It added significantly to the workshop experience and it was very inspiring to be able to see so many different types of work and to share your passion with so many other individuals being passionate about their art.
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Four individuals from three generations of the Weston family have contributed significantly to photographic art over the last 100 years. The workshop provided a unique opportunity for a more personal and nuanced insight into the work, contributions and lives of the Weston's. Gina, Kim and Randy shared many interesting stories and viewpoints, and showed not only many prints by Edward, Brett, Cole and Kim but also how some of these works had been made and what makes them work so well.
All together it was a wonderful and very unique workshop experience that started me out on a whole new path in my work. I returned home happy, and full of excitement and energy.
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