Monterey Screening of Documentary Internationally Renowned Photographer Arthur Tress: Water’s Edge at the MHAA Stanton Center

 September 2025. Monterey, CA. The Monterey History and Art Association and the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel present a special screening of the documentary “Water’s Edge,” about the life, career and creative processes of renowned fine art photographer, Arthur Tress. The dynamic and humorous Arthur Tress will also be on site to participate in a Q & A session on stage after the film is shown. Leading the discussion will be Ann Jastrab, Executive Director at Center for Photographic Art, and Stephen B. Lewis, the filmmaker.   The screening will be held at the Stanton Center, 5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey, CA on Friday, October 10, 2025, from 7 pm – 9 pm.

The 84-year-old Arthur Tress is mostly known for staged surrealism photography, but he also excels in street, urban exploration, landscape, and other genres. Tress lived in Cambria for 25 years before moving to San Francisco several years ago. The gorgeous 80-minute documentary premiered in 2023 at The Getty Center, in connection with a retrospective of Tress’ early work, also at The Getty. This screening is the first time the film will be shown on the Monterey Peninsula.

In connection with the screening, Center for Photographic Art is hosting a one-week, free “pop up” exhibit of Tress’ photography. The exhibit will blend recent work with a mix of older work, including some of his most iconic prints.

To learn more and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.montereyhistory.org/event/arthur-tress-waters-edge or use the QR code below.  Tickets are $10 for MHAA members and $20 for non-members.

About Arthur Tress (1940 -)

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Arthur Tress began his first camera work as a teenager in the surreal neighborhood of Coney Island where he spent hours exploring the decaying amusement parks. Later, during five years of world travel, mostly in Asia and Africa, he developed an interest in ethnographical photography that eventually led him to his first professional assignment as a U.S. government photographer recording the endangered folk cultures of Appalachia.

Seeing the destructive results of corporate resource extraction, Tress began to use his camera to raise environmental awareness about the economic and human costs of pollution. Focusing on New York City, he began to photograph the neglected fringes of the urban waterfront with a straight documentary approach. This gradually evolved into a more personal mode of “magic realism” combining improvised elements of actual life with stage fantasy that became his hallmark style of directorial fabrication.  In the late 1960s Tress was inspired to do a series based upon children’s dreams that combined his interests in ritual ceremony, Jungian archetypes, and social allegory. Later bodies of work evolved from this theatrical approach.

Tress began shooting in color in the early 1980s.  Fascinated by medical equipment in an abandoned hospital, Tress created and photographed room-sized painted sculptural installations.  This led to smaller-scale explorations of narrative still life within a children’s toy theater, then within a portable nineteenth-century aquarium.

Tress moved to Cambria in 1992, where he lived for 25 years.  Once there he completed a series exploring inner spaces of the mind, for which Tress created backlit, hyperreal dioramas containing transparencies, glass and objects, then photographed them.  Tress then returned to black-and-white photography, with a dozen series to date, including a few diamond-formatted ones.

In 2023, the Getty Center in Los Angeles presented Rambles, Dreams and Shadows, the first major exhibition to chronicle the early career of Tress.  During the exhibition, the Getty Center hosted the world premiere of the film Arthur Tress: Water’s Edge, an immersive dive into the life, vision and processes of the artist.

Tress comes from a Jewish background; his parents immigrated from Europe.  Tress knew he was gay from a young age.  Tress has said that "growing up as a gay man in the 1950s was not easy, especially at school.  Even in the 1960s, there was still a lot of bad feeling, a criminal aspect and a sense of guilt.” 

Tress currently resides in San Francisco.

About The Center for Photographic Art (CPA)

The Center for Photographic Art (CPA) is a 501 (c)(3) Non Profit Organization founded in 1988 in Carmel, California, to carry on the traditions of the illustrious Friends of Photography created by Ansel Adams and a group of like-minded photographers. CPA has presented the same level of high-quality exhibitions, community events, educational engagement, and artist lectures as its predecessor, as well as expanded to create a variety of community collaborations, workshops, publications, juried contests and grant opportunities. With roots starting in 1967, CPA remains the oldest, longest running, and one of the most prestigious photographic organizations on the west coast.

The Center for Photographic Art honors the history of West Coast fine art photography by upholding our forbearers’ regional traditions of mastery of craft, the concept of mentorship and mutual support, and the commitment to creating and appreciating photography. While adhering to our photographic roots, CPA also encourages a new generation of photographers by offering a succession of dynamic exhibitions, pioneering workshops, enlightening lectures, creative publications, personal critiques and community service. CPA cultivates respect for diverse subjects, approaches, techniques, materials, and equipment. At CPA we nurture personal growth essential for every artist and encourage photographers to pursue image-making that is unique to each person.

About the Monterey History and Art Association    

The Mission of the Monterey History and Art Association is to share the histories and the diverse legacies of people, stories, and places that continue to shape Monterey.

From its founding in 1931, the Monterey History & Art Association’s primary mission has been to help preserve the irreplaceable reminders of Monterey’s colorful heritage. Over the past seven decades, the Association has worked closely with the City of Monterey, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and other agencies. As a result, more old adobes have been preserved and restored in Monterey than anywhere else in California.

The Association instituted Monterey’s historic landmark program and created the Path of History which guides visitors to historic sites in old Monterey. It possesses extensive collections of furnishings, paintings, photographs, costumes, books, manuscripts, and other artifacts.

The Monterey History at Stanton Center at 5 Custom House Plaza, with parking in the Waterfront Lot next to Old Fisherman’s Wharf, has a fascinating array of historic art exhibits and special events. It is open Thursday – Monday, from Noon – 4 pm. Casa Serrano 412 Pacific Street is open from Noon – 2 pm on Saturday and Sundays. For more information, call 831-372-2608 or email MHAA.org1931@gmail.com.

Use the links below to explore MHAA properties and web resources:

• Casa Serrano – An 1843 Adobe
• Doud House – An 1868 wooden frame house
• Mayo Hayes O’Donnell Library – An 1876 church now used as a library–website includes images and documents from the collection
• Stanton Center – Now featuring Bounty of the Sea, an exhibition by the Italian Heritage Society, and the art of Jo Mora, Paul Whitman, Armin Hansen, and Emile Norman, the Chris Shake Photo Collection and more
• Jo Mora Collection – Preserving and honoring the legacy of artist Jo Mora
• MHAA Indexes – Indexes and full text of Noticias del Puerto de Monterey issues and Peninsula Diary columns
• Interactive Map – Explore and engage with the history of Monterey. Created by CSUMB student Hanna Sobonya. More information.

The Association has been a guiding force in Monterey’s vital historic stewardship. The guarding of Monterey’s precious community assets and the preservation and presentation of its historical heritage for future enjoyment has been made possible by citizens who care and give generously of their time and resources.

“It is beyond contradiction that every important historical event in California from 1770 to 1848 began or ended in Monterey, and that the buildings associated with these events are the greatest of Monterey’s tangible assets. Monterey’s historical background, its old buildings, and its artistic setting are unique among all the states of the West, and it is not only its civic duty, but also its civic advantage, to remember that background, to preserve its old buildings, and to build with its historical past in mind.” Source: Monterey History and Art Association 75th Anniversary book.