Experiencing Interruptions?

Arthur Tress: Water's Edge

TAGLINE: "There are pictures everywhere..."

Go on an epic and intimate journey with acclaimed photographer Arthur Tress as he enters his 8th decade. Arthur grapples with relationships, legacy, the aging process, and loneliness all while continuing to develop his photographic art within the hidden, desolate, and decaying corners of California.

Much more than an artist's bio, this documentary dives deep into the universal journey that defines what it is to be human; to find meaning, purpose, love, and beauty before the inevitable final destination of the voyage, nothingness.

It's picture making adventure through the unique eye of a pioneering and continually innovating artist, and you're invited along!

  • Stephen B. Lewis
    Director
  • Barbara S. Pollak
    Executive Producer
  • Stephen B. Lewis
    Producer
  • Arthur Tress
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Photography, Artist, Biography, Documentary, Aging, Fine Art, Surrealism, Nature, Gay, LGBT, Jewish
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 24 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The Getty Center Special Event
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 3, 2023
    World Premiere
  • Miami Jewish Film Festival
    Miami
    United States
    January 12, 2024
    East Coast Premiere
Director Biography - Stephen B. Lewis

Stephen Berkeley Lewis was born in... Berkeley, California. He grew up in Evanston, Illinois and then moved back to California where he went to USC 's film school as an undergraduate. A student film he made, "Play is the Work of Children", screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.

After graduating Stephen moved to San Francisco where he switched creative gears and had a long career in the video game industry as an artist, animator, designer, and programmer. After a mid-life career crisis he switched gears again to become a clinical hypnotherapist, his current day job helping guide his clients to overcome mental blocks and achieve personal goals via an altered state of consciousness similar to dreaming.

While the film making itch never left, it took a chance encounter with Arthur Tress on a ferry boat for Stephen to take a leap of faith and embark on a new movie making journey. The result is "Arthur Tress: Water's Edge", Stephen's first feature length documentary. Stephen is currently in pre-production on a documentary about hypnotists.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

One late afternoon I was riding the ferry boat home to San Francisco from Mare Island, where I had been taking photos, when by chance I met the photographer Arthur Tress. Although Arthur's name sounded familiar I didn't realize who he was until after texting my wife (she had studied photography in college). "You're with *the* Arthur Tress??" she exclaimed, long a fan of his work. In fact, we had several of Arthur's books in our home.

Thus was born the kernel of an idea to make a short documentary, perhaps 10 minutes long, showing Arthur taking pictures on Mare Island. 3 years later that short film has blossomed into a feature length character study of a strange and fascinating man who takes strange and fascinating photographs.

My interests in imaginative people, dreams, the solitude of creative endeavors, strange and disturbing images, surrealism, fantasy, and magical realism are shared by Arthur and reflected in his work. It was this overlap of interests that gave me the motivation to begin this project and see where it would take me. Of course it required the co-operation of Arthur Tress, who, to his credit, agreed to go along with the plan. In his words "...it's a good idea, but only if you finish it." Words to live by.

The movie as a project grew organically as I earned Arthur's trust, and he slowly gave me more access in to his work, mind, and life. After showing him a few early rough-cut scenes he saw that I was truthfully capturing the way he worked saw the film as an opportunity to tell more of his personal story. Little did I know the day we met that I would be in for a 4 year long series of adventures with him.

When I was in middle school making super-8 movies with my friends I dreamed that one day I would be able to make a feature length movie "on my own." Of course no film is made without the help of others, but in this case I did as much as I could myself, including camera, sound, and editing. It takes an abundance of naivete to embark on a project of this scope on one's own, but by staying in the moment and not letting little things like a global pandemic stop me, I ran my first movie making marathon.

While making this film I was beholden only to myself and to my subject, and thus had the luxury of pursuing film making experiments with little penalty. I feel more confident as a filmmaker now and am looking forward to making a different set of happy accidents on my next project.