Chadwick School Exhibit Features Noted Photographers

Framed pictures line the lobby of the main Palos Verdes Library on Silver Spur. They include vistas of undeveloped hills and intimate portraits of children and teachers.

“We’ve long known that we had these beautiful photographs, taken in the very early years of the school, and thought it would make a wonderful way to celebrate the 75th anniversary,” said Mary Baldovin, one of several Chadwick School officials on hand to greet people during Saturday's opening gala.

The reception served as the public's first introduction to the photographs. The art will remain on view till Jan. 21.  

Most know Ansel Adams from his iconic, black and white images of Yosemite, and have never heard of Cedric Wright. But in the 1940s, Adams was a working artist trying to make a living. He and Wright, a wealthier man and unofficial photographer of the Sierra Club, were fast friends.

So how did they come to Chadwick? Via Yosemite, it turns out.

It is likely that Margaret Lee Chadwick met Adams, and possibly Wright, during her school’s annual ski trip to Yosemite in February, 1940. Margaret wanted to produce a new, artistic catalogue for Chadwick Seaside School’s fifth anniversary. Adams came to the school in March and began taking photos.

Cedric Wright visited in the late forties and had a longer relationship with the school. He too created a catalogue, but his children were students and his wife taught piano there briefly. A decade later, Wright made a gift of his mounted photos to Mrs. Chadwick. After his death, the Sierra Club published some of Wright’s photography and poetry in a 1960 book, Words of the Earth.

Still, the fact that such famous artists were part of the school’s history was nearly forgotten.

Lance Bowling pointed out his favorite Adams shot, of students at Abalone Cover.

“See how he lowered the horizon, just like he did in his Yosemite work?” he said.

The technique showcases the majesty of the landscape. This picture might be the last showing Abalone Cove in a near-pristine state and was used as the centerfold of the catalogue.

Bowling is the owner of Cambria Master Recording and Archives, but more importantly, he is a Chadwick graduate with a passion for history. For twenty-five years, he’s visited the school weekly to search cubbyholes all across the campus, working with school archivist Fran Pullara. He talked about the photography during a slide show presentation at the library, and his audience included many alumni.

“Mrs. Chadwick never threw anything out, and Ansel Adams rarely dated his work,” Bowling said laughing.

Among the treasures found at the school are notes from board and faculty meetings that mention Adams, and photographic proofs of the pictures he took. Since the official archives of  Ansel Adams’ work rarely allow new prints to be made, those proofs were the basis of most of the his photographs now on display.

Pictures by both Adams and Wright show rolling hills surrounding the campus. In those early years  there were no houses, no roads, no fences, and no buildings of any kind. Just hills covered in brush.

 “We have so much to learn from it [the exhibit],” said Neva Oghigian, whose niece attends Chadwick School. “Not only to see what the environment was in the forties when it was so quiet and peaceful, but to really see the artistic work of these fine gentlemen.  And to celebrate Chadwick School, which I think is a wonderful resource.”

The photographic proofs and originals are in a safe on campus, Bowling said, adding he had limited access.

"I don’t have the combination,” he said.