Orange Coast College Professor Emeritus John Upton passed away on Dec. 7 from complications related to lung cancer. He was 88.
Upton was one of the founders of OCC’s renowned photography program, starting as a faculty member at the College in 1960. He retired in 1999 but continued to teach part time. “In many ways John was the ‘father’ of the Orange Coast College photography program,” says Photography Department Chair Blade Gillissen. “He was a great photographer and teacher … and an even better friend and mentor.He will be greatly missed.”
The Doyle Arts Pavilion hosted a survey exhibition of Upton’s work this past January titled “Right Place, Right Time: A Survey of John Upton’s Photographs.” The survey presented selections from four main bodies of work: Early Work, “Japanalia,” “Jungle Road,” and the more recent “Petaluma.” The exhibition was curated by Tyler Stallings, director/senior curator at The Doyle.
In the early 1950s Upton studied with Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Minor White, Dorothea Lange, and Edward Weston while attending the California School of Fine Arts. In 1955 he was the first resident student of Minor White in Rochester, N.Y. and took courses in the history of photography from famed photo art historian, Beaumont Newhall. He became chair of the photography department at OCC in the late 1960s, and in1976, he co-authored, with Barbara London, the seminal college textbook “Photography,” which is now in its 12th edition with more than 1.5 million copies in print.
Upton is survived by his daughters, Sean and Erica, his sons-in-law, and granddaughters.
A video interview of Upton discussing his life’s work can be viewed here.