Edward Weston

mounted, with initials and date in pencil on the mount, 1931, printing date unknown, possibly printed in the 1940s (Conger 655)

This photograph, on semi-glossy paper, is in generally excellent condition. In high raking light, 2 tiny impressions are visible in the upper left quadrant, neither of which appears to break the emulsion. The print is mounted to thin, slick, off-white card. The number '11' is in an unidentified hand in pencil in the lower right corner of the mount. The number '30' is in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse of the mount. Although we believe this photograph to be a lifetime print, we are uncertain as to the authorship of the initials and date written on the mount. In addition to the print of this image in the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Conger locates prints in the following institutional collections: Harrison Memorial Library, Carmel; Art Institute of Chicago; International Center of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester; Huntington Library, San Marino; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Special Collections, University of California, Santa Cruz, this last a Project Print.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The photographs in Lots 75 through 81 come from the collection of photographer, writer, and editor Dody Weston Thompson.  Thompson's engagement with West Coast photography began in 1946, when she introduced herself to Edward Weston after seeing an exhibition of his work in San Francisco.  Soon after, Weston took her on as his assistant and taught her the technical basics of photography. She became an increasingly important presence in the Weston household, and in 1948 she moved from San Francisco to a building on Weston's property at Wildcat Hill.  As she honed her own abilities as a photographer, she assisted Weston in the darkroom and spotted his photographs.  Her skills were such that Ansel Adams hired her as an assistant for a photographic trip to Yosemite in 1948.  Dody was instrumental in the production of Weston's Fiftieth Anniversary Portfolio, and was also involved in the printing of the Project Prints. 

In 1952, Dody married Edward Weston's son, Brett, with whom she traveled and photographed extensively before their divorce in 1956.  She accompanied Brett to White Sands, New Mexico, where they both photographed and Brett produced the images ultimately published in his White Sands portfolio (see Lot 76).  Through Adams's auspices, both Dody and Brett were sponsored by the Polaroid Corporation's Artist Support Program.  In 1953, Dody won the Alfred M. Bender Award for her photographic work.  Her photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Chicago Institute of Design, the George Eastman House, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among many other venues. 

Born Dora Harrison in Louisiana in 1923, Dody, as she was nicknamed, was first introduced to photography by Clarence John Laughlin.  As a teenager, Dody served as both model and equipment mule for Laughlin, a friend of Dody's mother.  Interested in acting and literature, she enrolled at Tulane University in New Orleans, then transferred to the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina.  An early marriage in the last years of World War II led to a move to San Francisco, where she worked as a writer and researcher for the West Coast Office of War Information, and also as a riveter at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California.  It was in San Francisco that she first became aware of photography's potential as a creative tool.    

 Edward Weston came to appreciate Dody's skills as a writer, and asked her to write the preface to his book of photographs, My Camera on Point Lobos (1950).  Dody was a founder, along with Adams, Minor White, Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, and others, of the groundbreaking photographic journal, Aperture.  Her biographical sketch of Edward Weston is collected in Edward Weston Omnibus (Salt Lake City, 1984, pp. 132-51), and offers a heartfelt but clear-eyed portrait of the photographer.