Alice Gowland was born in Pittsburgh and moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was eight years old. In December 1941 she met Peter Gowland. It was truly love at first sight and they eloped three weeks later.
Together they created a family and a successful photography business that spanned six decades. In 1955 they designed and built their dream home/photography studio in Rustic Canyon, near the beach in southern California.
They traveled the world giving lectures on photography, wrote columns and books, and took thousands of photographs including over 1,000 magazine covers.
Although Alice was busy running the business, which included overseeing the production of Peter’s custom Gowlandflex cameras, she still had time to give to her favorite causes – saving the stream, cleaning up the beach, volunteering at the polls, supporting political candidates and peace causes and being active in her homeowners’ association.
She loved to dance, play the piano, write stories, draw cartoons, play Scrabble, do crosswords, cook and entertain.
Always active, she and Peter had great senses of humor and their annual photo cards were treasured by their friends and colleagues. They loved to swim in the ocean and jog or walk along the bluffs.
They were admired by all who knew them as examples of how to live creative, productive, caring lives.
Alice is survived by her daughters Ann Macmillan (San Francisco) and Mary Lee Gowland (Kerrville, Texas); granddaughters Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom (husband Daniel Newsom) of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Lauren Macmillan Kahler (husband Grant Kahler) of Santa Monica; and great-granddaugher Camille Newsom.
A memorial for both Peter (who passed away in 2010) and Alice will be held this summer. In lieu of flowers please make donations to your favorite animal welfare charity.
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