Kim Weston laughs aloud when he considers what his famous Uncle Brett might have thought of the delicate strokes of color he has added to several of the black-and-white fine-art photos he's shot in recent years.
"He wouldn't have understood it at all," he speculates. "Brett was a black-and-white photographer and never worked with color. Dad, on the other hand, probably would have loved it."
His work will be showcased Saturday, 4-6 p.m., at an exhibit titled "Kim Weston: Painted Photographs," at the Center for Photographic Art (San Carlos and Dolores streets, Carmel), an event to be preceded at 3p.m. by a lecture by Weston at the Carmel Woman's Club.
Dabbing oil paints on photographs is a bold step for the 59-year-old Weston, a third-generation photographer from an iconic family in the genre.
Kim's grandfather was Edward Weston (1886-1958), who, in 2010, was ranked No. 16 by "Professional Photographer" on the magazine's list of "the 100 most influential photographers of all time."
Brett Weston and and his younger brother, Cole, became celebrated and prolific photographers in their own right.
Cole Weston raised a family of six children — including Kim — in a bright and beautiful home (built in 1938 by Cole's brother, Neil) that overlooks the Pacific Ocean on Wildcat Hill in the Carmel Highlands.
"I can't say I really knew my grandfather. He was sick with Parkinson's disease, and we were just little kids, but I remember this old man
"But I worked with my grandfather's negatives for many years, and I feel like I got to know him through his work."
Kim Weston says he knew at age 6, when he first started shooting his own photos, that he'd follow the same path, but life interfered. He paid his bills for 30 years as a carpenter, rising each day at 3a.m., pounding nails all day, falling into bed by 9p.m., shooting pictures on the weekend.
Eventually, his tool belt began to feel heavy and Weston gave more thought to his art.
"He came home one day, said he wanted to quit and start a photography business, and I said, 'Whoa ... what? Are you crazy? What are we going to do,'" said Gina Weston, his wife of 22 years. "He said we could either hire a manager, or I could quit my job (as a massage therapist) and run the business. We didn't have any money to hire anybody, so I knew I was going to be the one."
Gina runs the Weston websites, handles all social networking, fields the phone calls and books the workshops Kim offers to aspiring photographers. Some are in exotic locales (Scotland and Mexico were recent sites), others are hosted by the Westons at their famous home.
The house, itself — a living tribute to Edward Weston — is a major attraction for students. The icon's darkroom is still complete and operational — a curiosity to students who were raised with digital equipment and have never seen a negative before. Weston's famous desk, still in use, sits against one wall of the living room. Weston's original dining room table, where Kim and his siblings ate their cottage cheese treat, is the centerpiece of the dining area.
"I love to teach, but it came out of necessity," Kim says. "I was getting too old to keep doing construction, and I didn't want to do commercial photography. I'm not very good at it. Even with the great last name, I wasn't making a living on my photos. I started teaching because it's a way to meet people and broaden the base of folks who buy my work."
They also take great pride in the Weston Scholarship Fund, established in 2004 to support high school and college students studying fine art photography in Monterey County.
"That all sprung up because Gina took a photography class at Monterey Peninsula College and was shocked at how little money was available to the program. Students literally had to bring their own paper towels to class," Kim says. "I mean, this area has been Mecca for photographers since the very beginning."
The scholarship fund began as a contest for photographers — 12 participated the first year — and blossomed into a competition that attracted more than 100 in 2012.
The first-place scholarship is $1,000, second place $500, third place $300 and honorable mentions $200. The number of honorable mention awards is at the discretion of the judges.
A $1,000 Julian P. Graham Scholarship from the Pebble Beach Co. Foundation is awarded each year to a Monterey County high school student whose work meets the standards of the Weston Scholarship Competition and demonstrates a commitment to the medium of photography. Julian P. Graham was the official photographer for the Del Monte Properties/ Pebble Beach Co. from 1924 to 1963.
"The work has gotten better every year, to the point where we really have a hard time judging the contest now," Kim says. "We usually wind up with a lot of honorable mentions."
Weston's exhibit on Saturday will be his first at the Center for Photographic Art since 1997.
More information about the Westons can be found online at www.kimweston.com.
Dennis Taylor can be reached at dtaylor@montereyherald.com or 646-4344.
If you go
·What: "Kim Weston — Painted Photographs" lecture and exhibit
·When: Lecture at 3p.m. Satruday; reception 4-6p.m.
·Where: Lecture at Carmel Woman's Club, Ninth Avenue and San Carlos Street, Carmel; opening reception at Center for Photographic Art, Ninth Avenue and San Carlos Street, Carmel
·Cost: Free
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