I have omitted the backstory of how, at the age of eight, I sat on a barstool in the home of Edward Weston viewing his photographs as he placed each 8x10 gelatin silver print on an easel under the skylight.
That was in 1949, and in 1951 my visit took on significance; I was no longer a mere observer, I had become a participant in the art of photography! On my tenth birthday that year, Grandmother gave me a preloaded mail-in box camera equipped with a simple shutter and wire viewfinder. It was named a Hollywood camera; for two years I produced photographs with feelings of accomplishment and excitement. The camera provided a dozen exposures, after which, with a dollar bill placed inside and stamps affixed, it was mailed away. Approximately ten days later a new camera arrived accompanied by the negatives and resulting square prints made with the previous camera. Depending on subject distance and light intensity, the prints were sometimes satisfactory. However, most often they lacked the focus for close-up photography, which was the way I viewed things.
Recently, I made some prints from the Hollywood camera negatives. They represent my initial attempts at photography almost seven decades ago at the age of ten. One of the prints was of a subject, earlier photographed by Edward Weston in 1939; specifically, a broken window at the Golden Circle Mine in Death Valley. I located a reproduction of his image and placed it next to mine taken a dozen years later with my box camera.
The two photographs are strikingly similar, with the exception of lighting and deterioration between our respective visits --- similar enough to border on photography plagiarism. However, I do not recall if I had yet viewed Edward's photograph from my barstool perch; if so, I prefer to think of the similarities as a case of inspiration, rather than one of imitation. I could not have had a better teacher. In any event, my fascination with broken windows as worthy subjects originated at the Golden Circle Mine in 1951.
Edward Weston photo ©, Arizona Board of Regents
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