PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 59 PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC ART / COURTESY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEST / COURTESY OF COLBY TARSITANO Eadweard Muybridge, Berenice Abbott, Alfred Stieglitz and numerous members of the Weston family, including Edward, Brett, Cara and Cole. “We have a deep connection to the medium of fine art photography and believe it is of equal importance to that of the traditional fine arts,” Davi explains. The Weston Gallery has been closed for extensive renovations but reopens in January 2024 with an exhibition highlighting the gallery’s collection of rare, vintage black-and-white works juxtaposed with modern, contemporary color photography. Cross Ocean Avenue and go one block east to Dolores Avenue, where you’ll find the next stop, Photography West. This gallery has a very specific focus and objective: to promote artists who are dedicated to darkroom craftsmanship. In other words, no digital technology or thirdparty assistance. Explains gallery director Julia Christopher, “It just so happens some of the greatest darkroom masters in the world lived and worked in Carmel.” Like the Weston Gallery, Photography West holds temporary, curated exhibitions but the work of masters like Ansel Adams and Brett Weston are usually on view in the rear of the gallery. When asked if she thinks digital photography and AI have displaced traditional photographic methods, Julia responds, “People want to know what they see is real—that there is still beauty to be found in real life, light and chemistry.” By now, a stop for lunch is likely in order. A short walk on Dolores Avenue leads to popular spots like Little Napoli, La Bicyclette, Mulligan’s Public House or the oft-photographed Tuck Box. Or return to Ocean Avenue for a multitude of other restaurant and cafe offerings. Fortified and ready to continue? Next up is the Center for Photographic Art (CPA), located in the Sunset Center (a performing arts venue) on San Carlos Avenue. Originally established in 1967 as the Friends of Photography, it boasts Ansel Adams, Cole Weston and Wynn Bullock as its founders. “We try to show a variety of work,” explains executive director and curator Ann Jastrab. ABOVE (clockwise): The Center for Photographic Art (CPA) on San Carlos Avenue is a gallery, membership organization and event venue; picturesque Cypress trees in Carmel-by-the-Sea; Aspen Grove, Colorado, c. 1993, Cibachrome by Christopher Burkett at Photography West; Julia Christopher in Photography West’s Brett Weston Room.
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