black and white: then to now Shack and Tree, Ansel Adams/Edward, Brett, and Cole Weston Country, Pt. Lobos, CA

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This shack and this old tree are fixtures on Pt. Lobos, now a State Park in California and in fact the tree presently has a fence around it (destroying its photographic value). Does anybody know if Ansel Adams and Edward or Brett Weston used this shack or photographed this tree and/or shack? I'm curious, since this is the only building currently standing on Pt. Lobos that I know of, and Pt. Lobos was a favorite of Edward and Brett Weston who wandered over every inch of the territory with their view cameras. Ansel Adams worked nearby so far as I can tell. If you know, can you put your answer in comments? Thanks, John.

I just ran into someone locally who viewed this photograph and grew up knowing Ansel Adams. This individual says Ansel Adams intimately knew this building as he did every other part of Pt. Lobos and may have used it as a photo subject at one time or another or may simply have had a sandwich inside it from time to time. Who knew? No word, however, on Edward Weston or his son Brett. Any word on their knowledge of this particular shack and tree on Pt. Lobos? Edward Weston was the world's greatest chronicler of Pt. Lobos, I think, and his son, Brett had much of his talent -- a talent I am told has been passed on to a third generation of his family.

 

John (Crosley)

This 'house' was occupied soon after this image was taken by a State Park ranger I met two weeks ago. He lived in it for over 25 years before vacating it recently. It is located near Whaler's Cove. He says that it is true that Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Brett Weston and Cole Weston, all famous photographers were along and about these premises, but couldn't verify they used this building. He said that it once housed a world famous abalone scrimshaw collection, but one night(?) it was burglarized.

 

When I was there, the alarm system was being worked on -- though the priceless reddish scrimshaw collection -- one of a kind -- was memorialized by photos only, and had been burglarized years prior. The rangers there had turned this 'shack' into a whaling memorial museum with exhibits and it's worth a side trip. The fence that had been around the tree now is gone. However, this wonderful tree now has been extensively trimmed, destroying its aesthetic purity.

 

John (Crosley)

 

Nov. 2004.

As I left for Europe recently, I heard on a radio newscast that an old house or shack at historic Pt. Lobos was under consideration for designation as a landmark structure under one or another of such programs -- probably a federal program.

 

I am sure it is this House at Whaler's Cove.

 

Since it is under the jurisdiction of the California State Park's System, already, it hardly is threatened, but governments (as the Bush Administration has shown) sometimes have strange ideas about how to run a government. Some future administration might decide to knock out a wall and turn this ancient building into a concession stand, serving hot dogs and soft drinks to finance the state park system, and taking a cue from Hong Kong which has commercialized nearly everything, especially its trams, maybe paint giant diagonal logos across its front, saying 'SONY', 'PANASONIC', 'NIKON', 'CANON', 'LIPPO GROUP', BANK OF AMERICA' and so forth.

 

Now that would be outsourcing and turning over government functions to self-supporting status.

 

Some right wingers think that is what should happen with everything. . . after all private business can turn a profit and if it can turn a profit, it can manage things better than government. Why not logos for everything painted on every government structure. We're already naming baseball, football and basketball stadiums and arenas (ARCO ARENA, PAC BELL PARK -- oh that one went by the wayside -- even CROSLEY FIELD, if you get my drift -- and are old enough or have read enough to know the association.)

 

In fact, how about CROSLEY HOUSE, with a discrete sign bearing this photo and NO LOGOS AT ALL anywhere?

 

And CROSLEY POINT LOBOS STATE PARK, with only a sea otter sign and nothing else?

 

Regrettably all I have to contribute are photos, however.

 

Can that be so bad?

 

John (Crosley)

john,

a fine image in a favorite medium. the roots here are like fingers, holding on. wonderful, rich texture. regards, mmwhite.

This is possibly my most under appreciated and most unrecognized photo, taken with an old Leica III(c?)(f?) with a 35mm Elmar that stuck out from the camera about 1/2 inch, one of the most unobtrusive cameras you ever could imagine.

 

In other contexts, where getting lines 'straight' and not converging and free from distortion, were important, that lens failed the test, I found out much later in reviewing some of the few old photos I took and kept (negatives lost), but for a photo such as this, I think it did very well. I seldom shot Leica, though later I acquired a number of Leicas (before a year and a fraction ago all were stolen).

 

I just about never shot with them because I absolutely dislike rangefinder focusing -- they're great for preset shooting, but the focusing is for the birds. I learned on ground glass focusing for manual focusing and vastly prefer it.

 

But for the contrast, this is exceptional, and I LOVE the composition and the subject, which are one of the few such in my portfolio.

 

There is little wonder that Ansel Adams and Brett Weston and the sons, Cole and Brett, spent so much time at this place, Pt. Lobos.

 

The cabin is called 'The House at Whaler's Cove', and until recently was a park ranger home, but was re-converted to a museum (it once held a world class scrimshaw collection that was stolen and apparently lost for all time, and I am told and had no photographic record either, by the house's last occupant, the ranger himself.

 

I fell in love with the contrasts betwen the scaly bark of the tree and the texture of the planed thin wood of the single layer cabin walls.

 

Frankly, it's really my only good shot of a place that Brett Weston literally made famous through his wonderful photos. I am sure he, his sons and even Ansel spent time in this house and knew it intimately, as it's one of the few buildings on the entire Peninsula and an important part of whaling history, for which the cove there was known.

 

The nearby cove is central now to scuba divers, or was last time I looked, as it's 'easy in and easy out'.

 

You touched my heart by picking this photo to comnent on; it's my little understood or recognized 'masterpieice' (in my mind) Too bad it isn't a view camera capture.

 

I always felt it was much better than the ratings or views it attracted.

 

Thanks for letting me know your opinion.

 

John (Crosley)