Terms of Service & Condition of Sale

Welcome to Photography West! These Terms of Service (“Terms of Service”) govern your use of the website located at https://www.photographywest.com/ (the “Website”), and any other related content, features, materials, applications, widgets and/or services (collectively the “Services”) offered by Photography West Incorporated (“Photography West” or “we” or “us”).

BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE PROVISIONS OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICE (AND ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS INCORPORATED HEREIN) AND REPRESENT TO US THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY COMPETENT TO ENTER INTO AND AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, THEN YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO USE ANY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEST’S SERVICES.

For purposes of these Terms of Service, “you” and “your” means you as the user of the Services. If you use the Services on behalf of a company, organization, or other entity, then (a) “you” includes you and that entity, (b) you represent and warrant that you are an authorized representative of the entity with the authority to bind the entity to these Terms of Service, and that you agree to these Terms of Service on the entity’s behalf, and (c) your entity is legally and financially responsible for your use of the Services as well as for the use of your account by others affiliated with your entity, including any employees, agents or contractors.

These Terms of Service describe your responsibilities, Photography West’s liability and the liability of third parties related to the Services. All users of the Services must accept and comply with the terms and conditions set forth herein. Certain portions of the Services may be subject to additional terms and conditions specified by us from time to time. Your use of the Services is subject to those additional terms and conditions. If you have any questions regarding these Terms of Service, please contact us via email at info@photographywest.com.

Age Requirement

You may not use the Website if you are under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, you may only access the Website under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian and subject to his or her consent to these Terms of Service.

Website Security

You agree not to make any attempt to violate the security of the Website or the Website’s host server(s). You are prohibited from accessing or attempting to access data on the Website or the Website’s host server(s). You agree not to make any attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerabilities or capabilities of the Website or the Website’s host server(s).

Copyright

You acknowledge the materials on the Website (including the overall design, text and images of artwork) are protected by copyright and other proprietary rights, and you agree not to copy, reproduce, publish, transmit, download, distribute, or otherwise use or appropriate these materials in any way without our prior written consent. You also agree not to embed or frame any of the content on the Website without our prior written consent. Any unauthorized uses of the materials on the Website will result in an immediate breach of these Terms of Service, as well as other applicable laws. If you believe material on the Website infringes the copyrights of another person, please email us at info@photographywest.com.

Trademarks

You agree not to use Photography West trademarks and other source-identifying indicia without our prior written consent.

Disclaimers

While we do our best to prevent viruses, worms, and other harmful materials from being distributed through the Website, we do not warrant that materials on the Website will be free of such materials. We will not be held liable for any damage caused by the use of the Website. Users assume all risk when viewing or otherwise accessing the Website. We will make reasonable efforts to keep the Website service available on an ongoing basis. You may experience poor performance or temporary unavailability from time to time based on the need for us to provide maintenance or for other reasons (whether or not beyond our control). We shall not be liable for any poor performance or unavailability of the Website.

THE MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL CONTENT, SOFTWARE, FUNCTIONS, SERVICES, MATERIALS, AND INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE ON OR ACCESSED BY MEANS OF THE WEBSITE) ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT AND WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Limitation of Liability

YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND ANY INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL WE OR ANY OF OUR AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, OWNERS, AGENTS, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES EVEN IF WE OR ANY OF OUR AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, OWNERS, AGENTS, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOU HEREBY RELEASE US AND OUR AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, OWNERS, AGENTS, AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES FROM ANY AND ALL OBLIGATIONS, LIABILITIES, AND CLAIMS COVERED BY THIS LIMITATION TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless us and our affiliates, employees, members, owners, agents, or other representatives from any and all claims, damages, costs, and expenses (including but not limited to attorneys’ fees) arising from or in relation to your use of the Website and/or your breach of any representation, warranty, or other provision of these Terms of Use. For the avoidance of doubt, this will include disputes that are settled out of court or resolved through mediation or arbitration, at our election.

Dispute Resolution

These Terms of Use shall be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Venue and jurisdiction for any claims arising under this agreement shall lie exclusively with the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Monterey, California.

Revisions to Terms of Use

We retain the right to alter or terminate these Terms of Use at any time without notice. The current Terms of Use at any given time supersede any and all previous Terms of Use. At our option, we may notify users of changes to these terms through the Terms of Use hyperlink on the Website and/or by email. Any modification is effective as of the posting of the change.

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Website excepting only our Privacy Policy. Failure by us to enforce any provision of these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. If any term or provision of these Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable, the remaining terms and provisions shall survive in full force and effect.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us using the information provided below.

Mailing Address:
Photography West – Legal
PO Box 5306
Carmel, CA 93921

ONLINE ORDERS

Terms and conditions of sale:

These terms and conditions apply to any order you place through www.photographywest.com (“our Website”). Please read these terms carefully before you submit your order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide products to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information.

About PWG:

We are Photography West, Incorporated, a California corporation, registered in the United States of America. Seller’s permit #015-791510. Our registered mailing address is PO Box 5306, Carmel, CA 93921.

Order process:

To place an order with us online, please do so via our guest checkout. You will be required to provide some compulsory personal information (including a valid email address) so that we can fulfill your order. You confirm that all information provided by you to us is true, accurate and up to date. If there is an issue with the shipping or billing address provided, we will contact you via phone or email.

Please see our Privacy Policy for further details on how we use your personal information.

Our Website will provide you with instructions on the process for ordering products. Your order is deemed to be placed when you press the “confirm order” button at the end of the checkout process.

We will email you to acknowledge receipt of your order, but this does not confirm acceptance of your order. Our acceptance of your order will take place when we ship the products.

Prior to shipping the products, we may decline your order for any reason (including stock availability), our inability to obtain authorization for your payment, a pricing or product description error or any other circumstances. If we decline your order for any reason, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the products. If we have taken payment prior to declining your order, we will provide a full refund.

We will assign an order number to your order and tell you what it is when we acknowledge your order. It will help us if you can tell us the order number whenever you contact us about your order.

Price and payment:

The price of the product will be the price in US Dollars ($USD) indicated on the order page when you place your order. We take reasonable care to ensure that the price of the product advised to you is correct. However, we may decline your order prior to shipping of the products if we discover an error in the price of the products you order. If we have taken payment prior to declining your order, we will provide a full refund.

The prices displayed on our product pages do not include sales tax or the cost of delivery or shipping. These additional charges are calculated and applied at the checkout. If the tax rate changes between the date of your order and the date of delivery, we will adjust the tax you pay, unless you have already paid for the Products in full before the change in tax takes effect. You will have to pay our shipping delivery charges as quoted on the Website at the time we accept your order. The amount of these shipping charges may vary depending on the shipping location you provide during checkout.

Please note that a 9.25% sales tax will apply to orders scheduled for pickup or shipping to an address located within the state of California. If you order products from our site for shipping outside California, or the United States, California sales tax will not apply, but they may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied when the shipment reaches the specified destination. You will be responsible for payment of any such import duties and taxes. Please note that we have no control over these charges and cannot predict their amount. Please contact your local tax or customs authorities for further information before placing your order.

Please also note that you must comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the state and country for which the products are destined. We will not be liable for any breach by you of any such laws.

We accept payment with most major credit and debit cards. You must pay for the products before we ship them. Payment is taken by our preferred electronic payment provider, Stripe, at the time we accept your order. Any refunds will also be issued through Stripe.

Our products:

We take the utmost care to ensure our products are accurately described and documented on our Website. However, please note that actual image size measurements are approximate and may be a reference to the artist’s paper size, not the visible image size within the window. For example, Christopher Burkett’s original Cibachromes made on 30” x 30” Cibachrome paper, measure approximately 28.25” x 28.25” in the window of the overmat.

The mounted dimensions are accurate within ½ of an inch. The Website may contain typographical errors, omissions, or other inaccurate information, including but not limited to photograph descriptions and information related to availability and pricing. We reserve the right to correct errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies and to change or cancel orders at any time and without notice. Also, while we have attempted to display as accurately as possible our photographs on the Website, we cannot guarantee that any photograph you purchase will appear exactly as it appears on the Website – the colors you see may depend on the computer or device on which you are viewing our Website and may not accurately reflect the exact colors of the product on delivery.

All photographs displayed on the Website include an HD video condition report (written report upon request) and are sold “As-Is” and “With All Faults.” If you have any questions or concerns about specific products, please contact us directly prior to purchasing and we will happily assist you.

Shipping:

For all domestic orders, artwork with mounted dimensions under 32” x 38” will be shipped FedEx, unless you select another carrier. For domestic orders, artwork with mounted dimensions over 32” x 38” will be shipped UPS, unless you select another carrier. All publications are shipped USPS Media Mail with tracking, unless specifically requested otherwise. We will notify you via email of the ship date and tracking information, so you know when your order has left our premises and is on its way. If you require a special delivery method, please contact us at the gallery before your purchase and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

All shipments will require a signature upon delivery with no exceptions. We will contact you via the email address you provided to confirm the shipping address is correct prior to shipping your products. A written response to our email is required prior to shipping your products.

Some items may be shipped the next day, whereas special ordered and framed photographs will take longer. For example, we ship Wednesday – Friday, so orders placed over the weekend will likely ship on the following Wednesday. If you decide to order the photograph framed, please allow for 3 – 6 weeks from the date of order for the delivery of these items.

If we encounter any significant delays in sending your order out to you, we will contact you by email.

We operate as a very small team here at the gallery. At particularly busy times of year (Christmas, exhibition openings, etc.), please allow 5-7 business days for your order to be fulfilled. If you would like your order to arrive on or before a specific date, please include a note when you place the order with said delivery date details, or email us within 6 hours of placing your order at info@photographywest.com. You may also reach us by phone at (1) 831-625-1587. We will do our very best to accommodate your request.

Delivery:

We will send you an email to confirm when your order has shipped, along with the detailed tracking number.

Any timelines for delivery will be estimates provided by the shipping company. If the delivery of your order is delayed by an event outside our control, we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimize the effect of the delay. Once your order has been shipped, we will not be liable for delays in delivering your order, but please contact us if there is a delay and we will do our best to resolve the issue.

All orders require a direct signature to acknowledge delivery. If no one is available at the address to sign for the delivery, the shipping carrier (likely FedEx or UPS) will either leave a note or send an email informing you of how to rearrange delivery or collect the products from a local facility.

If, after a failed delivery to you, you do not re-arrange delivery, we will contact you for further instructions. If, despite our reasonable efforts, we are unable to contact you or re-arrange delivery or collection, the undeliverable items will be returned to us and we will refund your original payment method minus the shipping charges and a 3% processing fee.

The products will be your responsibility, and the risk of loss and/or damage to the products will pass to you when they are delivered to the address specified in your order.

24 Hour Cancellation Policy:

If you have changed your mind about an order, or placed an order by mistake, you may promptly submit a cancellation request. As long as the cancellation request is received before 11pm UTC the day your order is placed, we can cancel your order for no additional charge. Cancellation requests submitted after that time period are subject to a 3% processing fee.

Damaged or incorrectly supplied products:

Please check your products upon delivery. If the products you have received are damaged or incorrectly supplied you, please contact us immediately. In the case of damage, please email us photographs of the shipping container, as well as the damage, and we will arrange for a replacement to be sent to you immediately.

Order changes:

If you wish to make a change to your order before it is shipped, please contact us within 24 hours of placing the order and we will let you know about any changes to the price of the products, the timing of delivery or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change.

Guarantee:

Our top priority is for our customers to be happy. We guarantee all merchandise sold by the gallery is authentic and as described. If you are not satisfied with your original photograph(s), we will accept returns for exchange or store credit (minus shipping charges) within 7 days of delivery. If you would rather receive a refund for the original photograph(s), we will issue you a refund minus the shipping charges and a 3% processing fee as soon as the works are received at the gallery.

Returns of original photographs are accepted within 7 days of delivery to purchaser’s destination
Returned photographs should be in the same condition as received – undamaged, saleable, with the original packaging.
Shipping charges are non-refundable
Books and Posters are non-refundable
Photography West reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine if a returned photograph is in saleable condition.

Limitation of liability:

PHOTOGRAPHY WEST, INCORPORATED, AND ITS AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, MEMBERS, OWNERS, AGENS, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVES, WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, WARRANTY, OR OTHERWISE, AND WHETHER THE PHOTOGRAPHY WEST INCORPORATED PARTIES WERE ADVISED OF OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSSES OR DAMAGES, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES.

EXCEPT AS MAY BE PROVIDED IN ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY WEST INCORPORATED PARTIES, FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES PROVIDED OR PRODUCTS SOLD THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) TWO THOUSAND US DOLLARS ($2,000.00), OR (B) THE AMOUNT WE HAVE ACTUALLY RECEIVED FROM YOU IN PAYMENT FOR SUCH SERVICES OR PRODUCTS.

THE LIMITATIONS SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION WILL NOT LIMIT OR EXCLUDE LIABILITY FOR: (i) DAMAGE ARISING FROM A GROSSLY NEGLIGENT BREACH OF DUTY BY PHOTOGRAPHY WEST INCORPORATED OR FROM AN INTENTIONAL OR GROSSLY NEGLIGENT BREACH OF DUTY BY A LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEST INCORPORATED OR A PERSON USED TO PERFORM AN OBLIGATION OF PHOTOGRAPHY WEST INCORPORATED; OR (ii) ANY OTHER MATTERS IN WHICH LIABILITY CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. ADDITIONALLY, SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS:

Assignment: We may transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms of Service to another organization. We will tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.

Severability: Each of the paragraphs of these Terms of Service operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

Waiver: If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these Terms of Service, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaching these Terms of Service, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.

Jurisdiction and applicable law: If you are a consumer, these Terms of Service, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by the laws of the State of California.

Last updated: September 17, 2023

Carol Williams never talks about her own work as a photographer, which is a surprise, considering the company she keeps in her gallery – Ansel Adams, Morley Baer, Christopher Burkett, Paul Caponigro, Kenro Izu, Roman Loranc, Don Worth and Edward and Brett Weston, to name a few. Williams co-founded Photography West Gallery in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in 1980, with dear friends and fellow photographers Ron C. James (1937-2013), Claudette Bargeen Dibert (1942-1982) and the legendary Brett Weston (1911-1993) widely regarded as the child genius of American photography.

The gallery shows only accomplished darkroom masters using film, archival photographic papers and wet processes, each piece hand-crafted by the artist. “Brett used to tell me the integrity of the photograph depends on the photographers doing the darkroom work themselves,” Williams says of the late Brett Weston, with whom she had over a decade of “photographic adventures” spanning the Monterey Peninsula to the Big Island of Hawai’i. Not only has Williams persisted for 40 years in showing only artist-produced film photography, but Photography West Gallery is perhaps the only photographic gallery in the world today that holds this distinction.

The light and the rugged beauty of the Monterey Peninsula has famously attracted artists, writers and photographers since the early 1900s, with locales such as windswept Garrapata Beach and rocky Point Lobos. Edward Weston (1886-1958), who is credited as being the most influential American photographer of the twentieth century, moved to Carmel in 1929, and it was the images he created here that eventually would bring him international acclaim. He had four sons: Chandler, Brett, Neil and Cole, and it was Brett who would follow in his father’s footsteps. Brett’s career launched at age 13, when Edward brought him to Mexico, where he encountered the likes of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. By the time Ansel Adams moved to Carmel in 1962, Brett had had already established a name for himself, having won a Guggenheim fellowship in 1947 and exhibited internationally. Williams tells an anecdote that before Ansel Adams moved to Carmel in 1962, he called up Brett Weston and asked, “Do you think Carmel is big enough for both of us?”

At that time, photography was unrecognized as fine art. “In the 1970s, photography was taught in the journalism departments and not considered a legitimate art medium,” says Williams, who singles out a particular 1970 issue of LIFE Magazine as one of her early influences. She cut out images by photography icons Imogen Cunningham, Don Worth, and Jerry Uelsmann, mounting and framing the black and whites and displaying them in her dorm room at Western Washington University. “We were studying surrealism, and it was Uelsmann’s allegorical images that sparked my initial realization and conviction that photography should be included in the history of modern art,” she says. “It was this undeniable link to surrealism that really launched me into seeing photography as very significant modern art,” Williams says. “Jerry Uelsmann was the original catalyst for me.”

After graduating in 1974, Williams moved to Carmel, attracted by the art and photography scene of the Monterey Peninsula. Photography – indeed the arts – had largely been a man’s world, but Williams says that women in the area started taking up photography in the ‘70s. “It was a very free-spirited decade in California culture, particularly in Big Sur and Carmel. Many women were exploring their identities, and many used a camera to discover who they were or might be,” says Williams. “I definitely was investigating that genre in my own work.”

In her twenties, Williams worked by day in the library at Monterey Peninsula College and took photography classes at night. When she had a chance to meet Brett Weston at a Christmas party in 1976, she recalled thinking, “Oh! My opportunity to have a conversation with Brett Weston! I’ll ask him what light meter he recommends for a beginning photographer,’” The meeting proved pivotal: “Brett Weston declared, ‘no good photographer uses a light meter. If you can’t read the light on your skin, you shouldn’t be a photographer.’”

Owing to this unexpectedly shocking revelation, Williams never bought a light meter and changed her approach to photography. “I realized that photography is a significant exchange and interaction with light,” she explains. “It’s not just what you see with your eyes but involves the whole body. Your body is a light meter.” She continued to explore this concept in her work and photography classes.

Williams had never imagined ever owning a business. The idea of starting an artistic cooperative was contemplated with fellow photographers; however no one had either the time or money to make it happen.

In 1979, for the first time, the Small Business Administration began offering small business loans to women. Prior to that – a mere forty years ago — women needed a husband’s or male relative’s signature to apply for a loan. “I heard Jimmy Carter had a new SBA program to help women start their own businesses, so I went over to the local bank,” Williams remembered. In 1980, she became one of the first single women to be approved for an SBA start-up loan.

In a flash, the news spread around Carmel — a single, 29-year-old woman wanted to open a new photography gallery in town. But the gallery became inevitable once Brett Weston got word: a photographer told her Weston wanted to meet her. “She brought me to his house, and Brett opened the door saying, ‘So, you’re the young girl everyone says will lose her shirt opening a photography gallery; I’ll help you.’”

The two quickly connected. “He was a 51-year resident of the Monterey Peninsula and I was a 28-year-old newcomer, but there was a tremendous simpatica between us. We were just on the same page about photography, we were both totally obsessed and electrified by the images,” Williams recalls.

On October 25, 1980, five hundred people lined the streets of Carmel-by-the-Sea for the opening of Photography West Gallery. The opening featured a show of three new Brett Weston portfolios, seen for the first time: Leaves and Lava – Hawaii: 15 photographs from the Big Island; Abstractions, Portfolio #1, 1927-1980; and Abstractions, Portfolio 2, 1925-80. Copies of Weston’s newly released book, Brett Weston, Selections from Five Decades, were shipped in from New York, and Weston signed books all evening long.

Fine art photography was catching on, and the techies of the Silicon Valley were among its admirers. A young Steve Jobs came into the gallery in the early 1980s, admiring the work of Ansel Adams. “Steve asked if I would take a partial trade for his newest computer. ‘It’s called a Macintosh,’ he said hopefully,” she laughs. “We were both very young and just starting out, so I said sure, to help him out and ended up curating exhibitions for him at Apple and Next for the next decade!”

In 1985, San Francisco photographer Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006), whose images of nudes hang on the walls of Photography West, confided a concern to Williams. “Ruth said she knew there’d be a book of her photography after her death, but she’d hoped there’d be one while she was still alive,” says Williams. “I was concerned her work would be lost to history,” says Williams. “Ansel considered Ruth Bernhard to be the greatest photographer of the nude. But every commercial publisher I approached told me: ‘a woman photographer who does nudes in black and white? It will never sell.’ No one would publish her work. But then, it dawned on me that since I had a gallery, I could sell Ruth’s photographs to raise money for her book, so Ruth and I decided to collaborate.” Thus, a new chapter was born for Williams and the gallery: book publishing.

Adams introduced Williams to his printer, Dave Gardner, who at the time owned Los Angelesbased Gardner-Fulmer Lithograph. “He is legendary in the printing business for his patented Fultone process that by the early ‘80’s created incredible detail in reproduction quality by laserscanning the original photographs,” says Williams. Local photographer and graphics designer, Jerry Takigawa, created a simple design, and Williams published a series of limited edition posters to display in the gallery window. “Ansel would get all excited and dance around in front of his huge fireplace – nobody had ever seen such incredibly detailed reproductions,” recounts Williams.

Ruth Bernhard with her assistant Michael Kenna created five limited edition photographs to sell and raise money to publish Bernhard’s book. “We published Ruth’s book, The Eternal Body, ourselves,” says Williams. “Brett Weston was disappointed with the plate quality of his most recent book, so he also wanted a book featuring his best unpublished photographs. And that was how I got started in publishing.”

No commercial publisher wanted to produce books to the same high quality, according to Williams; it was expensive and there was no known market for them. “However, after my first two books won Photography Book of the Year from Friends of Photography, one of the publishers who had initially rejected Ruth’s book proposal called to tell me, ‘you’ve set a new publishing standard in photography books,’ and offered to buy the entire run. That first edition quickly sold out. The Eternal Body is the only book I ever reprinted – to celebrate Ruth’s 100th birthday.” Williams’ thirty-year collaboration with Dave Gardner resulted in eleven monographs for her gallery photographers. Her final monograph, a collection of fifty European photographs by Polish photographer Roman Loranc, entitled Absolution, was released in 2013. “It won several awards including the United State Literary Award and was my grand finale. Dave Gardner retired that year so I decided it was time for me to conclude book publishing,” she says.

Williams, now semi-retired, makes her home on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Brett Weston introduced her to the island in 1981. “For more than a decade, I would go to Hawaii every year and Brett and I would drive out at sunrise and have these amazing photographic adventures,” says Williams. Weston died in 1993 in Kona, Hawaii at age 82. “Brett was such a gift. A true free spirit, extremely loyal to the people he liked,” says Williams. “And never in my life have I ever met a person so in tune to light. He had a rare heightened intuitive sensitivity, it was always this quest for light.” All of the images that hang in Photography West Gallery are original, individually handcrafted photographs made with gelatin silver, platinum palladium or Cibachrome papers, from medium and large format film. With digital on the rise, darkroom materials are more and more difficult and costly to come by, Williams hopes that traditional light-based darkroom processes will be rediscovered and increasingly appreciated – not eclipsed as a relic from a by-gone era.

Written by Marina Blythe Davalos