An archive of letters and photographica of Morley Baer to Dody Weston Thompson, Daniel MichaelThompson & Sean Callahan.
Monterey, CA: 1973-1985. 5 T.L.S., some with manuscript annotations and pictures, signed by Morley Baer addressed to Dody & Daniel Thompson and Sean Callahan, plus photo-card announcements by Morley..... In addition, 5 A.L.S. by Frances Baer. Sizes vary; includes original envelopes..... Ephemera includes pictorial note cards and gallery announcements...
From Morley Baer to Sean Callahan, editor of American Photographer, "Would you be interested in having another writer by the name of Dody Thompson do the job? Dody was Edward Weston's last apprentice and lived and worked in Carmel as we did in the forties and early fifties. She knows the ground out of which so many of us came, and she knows my work commercially and personally since that earliest time." From Frances to Dody, "Morley, unfortunately is convinced that my having a place where I can work will automatically lead me into the opposite direction from himself—this is nonsense."......
Morley Baer, an internationally known photographer and teacher whose iconic images of Central Coast farms, beaches and adobe houses propelled him to the forefront of American photography, died in Nov. 1995 at the Hospice of the Central Coast in Monterey. He was 79.Born in Toledo, Ohio, Mr. Baer graduated from the University of Michigan in 1939 with a master's degree in English......
He forsook a career in advertising suddenly, in favor of photography, after accompanying a photographer friend on an assignment. Imbued with enthusiasm, he obtained a low-paying job as a photographer's all-purpose assistant and learned his craft from the ground up....Mr. Baer, of Carmel Valley, made his first pilgrimage to Carmel in 1939, in search of Edward Weston, whose photographs he had seen at a Chicago exhibition. He served in the Navy during World War II, photographing first the Atlantic theater of the war and then, under Edward Steichen, documenting the war in the Pacific.......
Still fascinated by Weston's vision, he moved to California permanently in 1946. Mr. Baer applied for an apprenticeship with the master, only to be turned down. Later, the two became good friends in a circle of local photographers that also included the late Ansel Adams...Working primarily with large-format cameras, Mr. Baer was best known for his black-and-white landscape and architectural photographs. He received the National Award for Photography from the American Institute of Architects in 1965 and in 1979 was the first photographer to receive the coveted Prix de Rome from the American Academy......
For over 25 years, Morley Baer formed relationships with architects shaping the future of coastal California architecture, as they innovated after the end of World War II (1939–1945) and photographed this emerging style. His understanding of Northern Californian architectural modernism put him in close contact with the greats of the industry, such as Julia Morgan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Baer produced iconic representations of this brand of coastal modernity through unique artistic interpretations of architectural structures—a style of dramatic lighting against the built environment..............................................Frances Baer lived and worked in the inner circles of the Monterey Peninsula photography scene in the peak years. Wife to Morley Baer and a painter herself, she saw and knew the art scene well because she lived it. She engaged with the great photographers in her time : Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams and Morley Baer. Frances Baer passed away in August 2003. Item #51-7161
Price: $600.00