When I first met John in the original Building 8A in the Fall of 1971 at DVC, I had already spent a few years studying Architecture. I was taking a "short break" from those studies, and by chance took a Photography Class at DVC. Within weeks I knew my Architecture studies were done, and I engulfed myself with a newly discovered way of seeing. Ultimately, I spent the next 40 years with the Photography program, the last 30 as an employee, both as the Photo Technician, and as a Part Time Instructor. I got to stand by John as he continually used his Passion to teach and mentor the students of the program, but to also instill an understanding of using the camera as a tool of observing and interpretation.
We were invited to John Weir's home for an afternoon to celebrate his life and recognize his impact on all of our lives. As the afternoon went on, it was decided that this John Spence Weir Memorial Exhibition would have to be at the place where his teaching and counseling were at a special lectern for him. Teaching from 1969 until his retirement in 2004, John introduced Photography to an audience of students with a broad spectrum of life experiences and understanding... As I have had the special opportunity to work alongside Robert Barry and our partners, Linda Charter and Martita Foss, collectively we have gained insight into a dear Friend, a Teacher, a Father and Husband, and an Artist, accompanied by the Vision of how John saw the world around him. The project of mounting this collection has followed many exhilarating and challenging paths, but never strayed from the goal of presenting the photographic vision of John Spence Weir.
John's son, Juan, has given us unfettered access and support throughout the production of this show as thousands of prints were discovered and catalogued, including several personal family photos that Juan had not seen for years! None of this would have been possible if not for Juan's compassion and love for his father, and his understanding of John's passion for image making.
Additionally, a very grateful thank your to Leland Rice, also one of the founding members of The Visual Dialogue Foundation, for all his expertise and valued assistance in making the exhibition a reality. His wealth of information regarding John Spence Weir has been invaluable.
-Timothy Taylor
Curatorial Statements
It has been a pleasure and honor to work on this John Spence Weir Memorial Exhibition with my dear friend Tim Taylor and our respective partners, Martita Foss and Linda Charter. We all share a love and respect for John as a person and as an outstanding Artist. Our common goal was to present a beautiful body of photographs highlighting some of John’s best work at various phases of his over sixty years as a photographic artist. First we had to find out what the scope of the work that John had stored at his house entailed. This took us many hours of categorizing and sorting. We were thrilled to mine the depths of his history to find the elite images to present in this show.
This project would not have been possible without John’s son Juan and his support for this project, his love for his father, his friends and the love of his art.
John was always most passionate about family and friends, Photography, all things Mexican, and prior to his diminishing health, food and wine.
I’ve known John since meeting him at DVC in 1970. I traveled many times with John to Mexico and to San Francisco to photograph in the Mission District and other parts of the city. All of these shooting events culminated in a debriefing sharing our proofs and prints and this was always a master class in photography.
The last few times we visited, John was bed-ridden, weak and frail. However, as soon as we started talking about photography or Mexico you could see his spirit light up. He was excited and wanted to communicate.
John passed two weeks prior to his 92nd birthday on March 10, 2022.
-Robert Barry
