Carmel Magazine

Carmel Magazine HO15

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Developing a Presence n 1975, Maggi Weston was a young divorced mother looking for a new career. Through the family of her ex-husband, pho- tographer Cole Weston, she had become close friends with legendary photographer Ansel Adams. Adams was good friends with Cole's father, another famous photographer, Edward Weston, co-founder with Adams and others of the group f/64. When deciding on a career path, Weston, a professional singer, thought it wouldn't be fair to her young son Matthew to continue traveling for per- formances. She consulted with Adams, inventor of the Zone System of photography, for advice. "Adams told me, 'Maggi, you know enough about photography, why don't you open up a gallery?' "I said, 'My God, me? A business?'" she recalls. The two talked it through, and Adams knew the owner of a set of build- ings on 6th Avenue in Carmel, where a dress shop had just gone out of business. With the exception of a small galler y in Monterey, no photography galleries existed in the area at the time. "So I did it," Weston says. "I think I paid $350 a month for rent." With $2000 in savings, the Weston Gallery was launched. "Ansel said, 'I'll give you your first show,'" Weston says. "We did 50-50 consignment, and I sold out that first show. People were lined up wanting him to sign their books, the police were there, and it was quite wonderful and amazing. [With the proceeds], I was able to buy my first Ansel Adams." With connections in the photography world and a critical eye for excel- T h e We s t o n G a l l e y C e l e b r a t e s 4 0 Ye a r s B Y B R E T T W I L B U R C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 167 "Winter Sunrise," Ansel Adams. I

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