Seema Aissen Weatherwax
Encyclopedia
Seema Aissen Weatherwax was a Ukrainian-born American photographer.
She was born in Ukraine
, then under the Russian Czar, to Avram and Reva Aissen. She was the second of three girls. The family emigrated to England
in 1912, then Boston
in 1922, where the young Seema Aissen found her first job working in a photofinishing lab. She pursued this craft in Boston, New Jersey
, New Mexico
, California
and Tahiti
, but she was ninety-five when she first exhibited her own photographs to the public.
In Los Angeles in the 1930s she joined the Film and Photo League
, began her lifelong work for racial justice, and formed enduring friendships with artists and political activists including Edward Weston
, Imogen Cunningham
and Woody Guthrie
. She assisted Ansel Adams
in Yosemite, becoming a close friend of the Adams family. She left Yosemite to marry Jack Weatherwax in 1942, working as a photo technician to support his writing while joining in his left activism in Los Angeles
. In 1984 they moved to Santa Cruz, California
, where her husband died three weeks after their arrival.
After a year of grieving and contemplation, Seema Weatherwax stepped into public life in her own right. Wanting to share her personal collection of art and photographs, she held benefit shows, joined the NAACP and WILPF, was elected to the boards of those two organizations, and was soon well-known in Santa Cruz.
On the eve of her ninety-fourth birthday, she decided that she wanted to do two things before she died, print some of her old negatives and have a new love. Having reflected on the reasons for having put her own creative work in the background, she revised her life story, using work created on the margins of the great photography of the mid-twentieth century to step from a conventional women’s role into center stage.
In 2005, Seema Weatherwax had her fifth public show of her photographs, at Special Collections at the University of California at Santa Cruz, then celebrated her one hundredth birthday and the release of her biography, Seema’s Show: A Life on the Left, by Sara Halprin, published by the University of New Mexico Press.
She was born in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, then under the Russian Czar, to Avram and Reva Aissen. She was the second of three girls. The family emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1912, then Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1922, where the young Seema Aissen found her first job working in a photofinishing lab. She pursued this craft in Boston, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, but she was ninety-five when she first exhibited her own photographs to the public.
In Los Angeles in the 1930s she joined the Film and Photo League
Workers Film and Photo League
The Workers Film and Photo League was an organization of filmmakers in the United States initially affiliated with the Workers International Relief...
, began her lifelong work for racial justice, and formed enduring friendships with artists and political activists including Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her photography of botanicals, nudes and industry.-Life and career:...
and Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
. She assisted Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
in Yosemite, becoming a close friend of the Adams family. She left Yosemite to marry Jack Weatherwax in 1942, working as a photo technician to support his writing while joining in his left activism in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1984 they moved to Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, where her husband died three weeks after their arrival.
After a year of grieving and contemplation, Seema Weatherwax stepped into public life in her own right. Wanting to share her personal collection of art and photographs, she held benefit shows, joined the NAACP and WILPF, was elected to the boards of those two organizations, and was soon well-known in Santa Cruz.
On the eve of her ninety-fourth birthday, she decided that she wanted to do two things before she died, print some of her old negatives and have a new love. Having reflected on the reasons for having put her own creative work in the background, she revised her life story, using work created on the margins of the great photography of the mid-twentieth century to step from a conventional women’s role into center stage.
In 2005, Seema Weatherwax had her fifth public show of her photographs, at Special Collections at the University of California at Santa Cruz, then celebrated her one hundredth birthday and the release of her biography, Seema’s Show: A Life on the Left, by Sara Halprin, published by the University of New Mexico Press.
Resources
- Tapes and transcripts of interviews for the Weatherwax biography are deposited at Special Collections, University of California at Santa Cruz, which also holds the bulk of the Weatherwax collection of photographs. Supplementary photographs from the Weatherwax collection are deposited with Special Collections, Stanford University.
- Jack Weatherwax's papers are held by the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. - See an exhibit of some of Seema Weatherwax's photographs.
Further reading
- Buhle, P. and E. B. Sullivan, Eds. (1998). Images of American Radicalism. Hanover, MA, The Christopher Publishing House. (includes two photos by Seema Weatherwax)
- Wilson, C. and W. Madar (1998). Through Another Lens: My Years with Edward Weston. New York, North Point Press, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Halprin, Sara (2005). Seema's Show: A Life on the Left. Albuquerque, New Mexico, The University of New Mexico Press.