Carnegie Lecture Series
100 views of Morro Rock
A new photographic book by ARTHUR TRESS
100 Views of Morro Rock
Friday, June 20, 2025
5:30 - 7:00 pm
Arthur Tress and David Weisman will present their photography and their new book, with book sales and Q&A.
Taking place in-person AND online
In-person details:
696 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo
No registration required
Online details:
Streamed via Zoom
Free preregistration required
On Friday, June 20th, join the History Center of SLO County for 100 Views of Morro Rock with Arthur Tress and David Weisman. Tress and Weisman will present their photography and their new book, with book sales and Q&A.
Internationally acclaimed photographer Arthur Tress is pleased to announce the release of his latest book of photography, 100 Views of Morro Rock. A decades-long resident of California’s Central Coast, Tress dedicated five years to the project (2010-2015), ultimately taking over 18,000 film photographs of the iconic Morro Rock and its surroundings. Working with local photographer, writer and Morro Bay resident David Weisman, the photos were edited into the new volume, with commentary and text by Weisman.
With a nod to the classic work of 19th Century woodblock printing master Katsushika Hokusai’s 100 Views of Mount Fuji, Tress’ goal has been not to capture Morro Rock, per se, but rather show the microcosm of life that springs up around it. Tress fills his frame with the social ecology of homes, restaurants, fishermen, tourists, surfers, workers and residents, as well as the flora and fauna that surround the Rock and its environs. The results are a meditation that encompasses both solemn quiet poetry as well as wryly whimsical observations.
A native of New York, Arthur Tress first took up photography as a teenager. As an established fine art and commercial photographer, his work segued into documenting urban social conditions, often using the visual language of dreams and myths to create a kind of photographic social surrealism.
Since moving to California in 1990, Tress has returned to a simpler form of poetic realism, dealing with man’s relationship to nature and the built environment—still using his Hasselblad film camera. His work has been shown at MOMA, the Whitney Museum, Corcoran Gallery, SFMOMA and most recently in a career retrospective at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
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