EDWARD HENRY WESTON, 1886 - 1958
Compiled and Edited by Dick Rinehart
1886 Edward Henry Weston is born March 24, in Highland Park, Illinois. Parents: Dr. Edward Burbank Weston (1846 - 1918) - Obstetrician, Alice Jeanette Brett(1851 - 1892) - Shakespearean Actress.
1892 January 25: Edward’s mother dies. Alice Jeanette’s dying wish is that Edward become a businessman and not an educator or doctor in the family tradition. He is raised by his sister, Mary "May" Jeanette Weston (1877 - 1952).
1902 August 20: Edward is given his first camera by his father while summering on his aunt’s farm in Michigan. Camera type: Kodak Bulls-Eye No. 2 3.5” x 3.5” format (12 exposures). Here is Kim Weston with his Bulls-Eye camera, like the one Edward Weston used.
1903 Edward drops out of school and never returns. He follows his mother’s wishes and works for three years as an errand boy and salesman for his uncle, Theodore Brett, at Marshall Field & Company in Chicago.
1904 Edward's sister, May, moves to Tropico, California.
1906 Edward's first photograph is published in the April issue of Camera and Darkroom. Photograph: “Spring, 1903.”
May 29: Edward arrives in Tropico, California to visit May. He decides to stay and California becomes his home for the rest of his life.
May's husband, John Seaman (1877 - 1961), arranges a job for Edward as a surveyor by the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad for $15 a week.
1907 Edward quits his railroad job to become an itinerant photographer, working door-to-door. Edward returns east to attend the Illinois College of Photography in Effington, Illinois. He completes the 9-month program in 6-months. Edward learns darkroom techniques he will use for the rest of his photographic life.
This early image can be seen in the book: "EDWARD WESTON LIFE WORK" Essays by Sarah M. Lowe and Dody Weston Thompson. Photographs from the Collection of Judith G Hochberg and Michael Mattis.
1908 Edward returns to California and works as a retoucher for George Steckel Portrait Studio in Los Angeles.
1909 January 30: Edward marries Flora May Chandler (1879 - 1965). Edward leaves George Strekel Studio and is hired by Louis A. Mojoiner Portrait Studio in Los Angeles, as a negative retoucher and photographer.
1910 April 26: Edward’s first son, Edward Chandler Weston (1910 - 1995), is born. He is called Chan.
1911 Edward builds his first photographic studio for $600 at 113 Brand Boulevard in Tropico, on land owned by Flora's parents. This will be Edward's base of operations for the next two decades.
December 16: Edward’s second son, Theodore Brett Weston (1911 - 1993), is born. He is called Brett.
©Center for Creative Photography Tucson Arizonawww.edward-weston.com (Several of the photographers are unknown)
Stay tuned for more family photos!