photographers - The Cambridge Historical Commission Blog

Popular Photography in 19th-Century Cambridge

Posted on June 15, 2021June 28, 2021 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

“There are no bad images; that’s just how your face looks at times.”
-Henri Cartier-Bresson

Today it’s hard to imagine life without photography in all media, but the arrival of popular photography in the mid-19th century created a remarkable transformation in how we understood the world … something akin the arrival of telephones. Photography increased our vision and hence our perception of the world around us. Without photography, we wouldn’t talk about “snap-shots” (coined by Sir John Herschel in 1860), “photo,” “close-up,” “pin-hole,” flash bulb,” or “shutterbug.”

THE START OF IT ALL

Several inventors made advances towards photography in the 19th century, but Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) clinched it with his invention of the daguerreotype in France in 1829.

The first daguerreotype operation in Cambridge seems to have been Mr. Clark Moore’s mobile studio. Imagine the astonishment at the Cambridge Chronicle‘s office on Main Street when one December day in 1849 the editor looked out his window and saw this “Daguerreotype Saloon” pass by!

Cambridge Chronicle Building, 1855. Demolished by 1865 – Now 689 Mass Ave. Image: CHC

Mr. Moore went on to establish his permanent studio at the corner of Main and Essex streets.

*Cambridge Chronicle* September 20, 1851

Fast forward a decade and photography had really seized the public’s attention:

A search of the local newspapers reveals that in the decade 1850-1859 the word “daguerreotype” appeared 91 times. The word “camera” only six times and the word “photographic” nine times. By 1890-1899, “daguerreotype” appeared only 12 times, “camera” 317 times, and “photographic” 696 times.

Articles appeared coaching would-be photographers on how to take the best portrait photograph:

Next appeared witty descriptions of surviving the application of ice tongs during the process:

PHOTOGRAPHY AS ART

This technology opened a new way of creating the sort of dignified portraits that had been traditionally captured by trained portrait painters. In this vein, many photographers referred to themselves as artists.

*Cambridge Chronicle* September 16, 1899

G.W. PACH’s studio was founded by him and his brothers in New York City. Wildly successful, they subsequently opened branches in Cambridge, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They advertised heavily in Cambridge. Note the reference to his “Art Studio” in the advertisement:

From Boston Elevated Railway Collection: Workers making borings near Harvard Square. The Pach Bros. building (demolished in 1916) can be seen in the background (August 17, 1906).

In 1880, the Pach Bros. published a pamphlet “devoted to the interests of the photographic art …”, to “the building up of the glorious cause of art, and to convey such information as will lead to a greater interest in artistic efforts.”

COMPETITION FOR THE TRADITIONAL ARTISTS IN PORTRAIT PAINTING

“From today, painting is dead!”
(Attributed to French artist Paul Delaroche commenting on daguerreotypes).

Most probably portrait photography substantially ate into traditional painters’ business. “By 1859, Charles Baudelaire was denouncing photography as ‘the mortal enemy of art.’ ‘If photography is allowed to stand in for art in some of its functions,’ Baudelaire fumed, ‘it will soon supplant or corrupt it completely.’” (Baltimore Sun)

But it may also have given artists a boost. Now they could advertise their skill at painting portraits from photographs. And, since photography had captured the “realism” market, painters had more freedom to use looser styles, emphasizing qualities of light, and creating more atmospheric portraits.

The fine print: “we are connected with one of the best-known Photographic Establishments in Boston, and parties desiring portraits or Colored Work will be furnished with sitting free of expense.”

AND THEN CAME GEORGE EASTMAN
“You press the button – we do the rest.”

Original Kodak camera. Image: *Time* Magazine

George Eastman launched the Kodak – the first successful roll-film camera – in 1888. “The camera was sold loaded with film, and both had to be sent back to the factory for processing. Over 13,000 cameras were sold in the first year. (http://www.alternativephotography.com/history-photographic-words/)

Other varieties of cameras soon hit the market:

*Cambridge Chronicle* April 23, 1887:
“the detective camera”

*Cambridge Chronicle* October 3, 1891:
“the Hawkeye camera”

*Cambridge Chronicle* May 22, 1897: “the Falcon camera”

*Cambridge Chronicle* May 7, 1898:
“the Munroe Camera”

*Cambridge Chronicle* January 13, 1894: “the Photoret Snap Shot and Time exposure camera”

Photographic equipment was frequently sold in hardware stores:

PHOTOGRAPHY CLUBS

The advent of Eastman’s Kodak camera advanced amateur photography substantially. Cambridge alone had seven different photographic clubs: The Old Cambridge Photographic Club (1892) was founded by Alice C. Allyn. Others included the YMCA Camera Club, Cambridge Camera Club (1888), Lechmere Camera Club (1896), Harvard Cambridge Club, the Tech. Camera Club, and Cambridge Heights Camera Club. Many of these clubs focused on landscape, or nature, photography.

Butterfield was known for his landscape photographs:

*Cambridge Chronicle* September 25, 1886

Many women also took up photography, including Alice M. Longfellow, a daughter of the poet, “whose pictures of nature are a cherished heritage of the whole American people. … Miss Longfellow’s landscape views are noted for delicacy of gradation, poetic feeling and beauty of sentiment.” (Cambridge Chronicle November 16, 1889). Others were Delia Stickney and Cornelia Horsford.

One post can’t do justice to the range of popular, nature, and scientific photography in Cambridge in the late 19th century. Many well-known names and institutions are missing from this account. For instance, George Kendall Warren, who photographed Harvard graduates; Augustus Story, who was the chief photographer on the 1882 scientific expedition to New Zealand to observe the Transit of Venus; and the Harvard Observatory collection.

BUT FOR AMATEURS….

Move over George Eastman…. Here comes Edwin Land!

Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox.

SOURCES
Cambridge Public Library digital newspapers
Ancestry.com
Newspapers.com
Harvard University
Wikipedia
Wells, James A. A Short History of the Old Cambridge Photographic Club. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son Inc. Printers, 1905.
Merry A. Forest American Photographs: The First Century (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996.)
http://www.alternativephotography.com/history-photographic-words/Nelson Atkins Museum of Art https://art.nelson-atkins.org/
https://artsandculture.google.com/. From the J. Paul Getty Museum
http://www.alternativephotography.com/history-photographic-words/
McNatt, Glenn. “Photography and Painting Influence Each Other.” Baltimore Sun, February 15, 1998.

Torn Down Tuesday: The Rand Estate

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Meta Partenheimer

On June 9, 1855, the Cambridge Chronicle declared that “No part of our city is improving more rapidly at the present time than that part known as North Cambridge.” Among the citizens listed as building new structures was carriage-builder Benjamin Rand, then in the process of erecting a house on Elm Street along the Somerville border.

Elm St 112 Rand estate — Rear view of Rand’s house and estate

Early deeds show that the land was owned by David Goddard, a wheelwright, and that there was a blacksmith shop on the North Avenue (later Massachusetts Avenue) end as early as 1802. In 1810, Goddard sold a shallow lot along North Ave to Joseph Kent, a blacksmith living in Charlestown, who had earlier purchased the shop but not the land. In 1812, Kent, now listed as a blacksmith in Cambridge, sold the same lot and blacksmith shop to Benjamin Rand, chaisemaker in Cambridge. In 1821, Stephen, Benjamin, David, and Sarah Goddard sold the land behind the blacksmith shop to Benjamin Rand, stretching his land to Elm Street.

The two western portions of the blacksmith shop make up the only building that show on the 1854 Walling Map of Cambridge. In 1946, it was described as “an interesting two and a half story hip roof house…facing Massachusetts Avenue.”

In contrast to the house above, the new construction on Elm St was characteristic of the Italiante style. Here the center hall plan is emphasized by an entrance pavilion with a heavy cross gable. The most prominent feature of the composition is the massive projection of the cornice, which casts strong shadows and forms a determined break between the rook and walls. The wide front door is framed by paneled pilasters and shielded by a substantial hood carried on brackets.

Elm St 112 Rand house — 112 Elm St ca. 1870s

The greater plasticity of massing in this house is further emphasized by bay windows on each end facade. The upright composition, set on a granite foundation and low terrace uncompromised by foundation shrubbery and set off by a trim cast iron fence, is a textbook example of American suburban dwelling at mid-century.

wisteria_gazebo — Wisteria on the Gazebo at the Henry Harry Seaton Rand Estate (2 June 1892), by Henry Lathrop Rand. Southwest Harbor Public Library.

Benjamin Rand died in 1859, and his will probated in 1860 left his household furnishings to his wife Rebecca, all the lot with the buildings to his son Henry C. Rand, who had been born in the house, and the remainder of his property in trust for the benefit of his wife and grandson, George R. Wade. Henry was a leather dealer in Boston with a storefront at 45 Merchants Row in Boston. Cambridge-based business Curtis Davis & Co soap-makers occupied a neighboring storefront at 21 Merchants Row.

45_Merchants — Henry C. Rand & Co. – 45 Merchants Row, Boston (31 March 1902), by Henry Lathrop Rand. Southwest Harbor Public Library.

Henry’s son, Harry Seaton Rand worked as a clerk at his father’s business. Following Henry C.’s death on 29 March 1910, the property was left to Harry Seaton.

Henry Harry Seaton Rand in Gloucester (30 May 1892), by Henry Lathrop Rand. Southwest Harbor Public Library.

Henry Seaton married Mabel Malwhinney in 1909 and both lived the rest of their lives on the expansive estate. Harry died in August 1946, and Mabel passed away a few years later in August 1950. The couple had no children, and sought to leave the estate, its trappings, and their personal property to a party that would care for the land in perpetuity, possibly as a museum or park.

Bromley1916 — Detail of the Rand property on the 1916 Cambridge Bromley Map

The Rand estate was known and recognized by Cantabrigians for its expansive grounds, lush gardens, and pristine landscaping. Detailing the beauty of the grounds, the 2 August 1935 issue of the Cambridge Chronicle wrote:

“…there is much to be told about the architectural landscape features of the interior which is laid out with pleasant walks, well-kept lawns, expansive flower gardens, arbors, trellises and shrubbery, while numberless stately trees of various kinds provide caverns of cool shade in hot weather. A large greenhouse supplies a wealth of flowers and plants used for decoration. A restful calm creeps over one who is privileged to inspect these premises, which also furnish a splendid sanctuary for birds. The estate is enclosed in a high wooden, slat, fence, bordered inside by a thick foliage which obscures the view of passersby except here and there a peep hole enables one to catch some of the hidden beauties of the place.”

Elm St 112 Rand Estate c 1885 — 112 Elm St ca. 1885

Both the City of Cambridge and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), now known as Historic New England, were offered the real estate as a gift, though neither party possessed the resources to maintain the aging property, and it was passed on to the general estate. In 1952, the property was cleared to make way for what is now the Porter Square Shopping Center, which opened to customers in 1957.

Porter Sq Shopping center 1960 #4 — Porter Sq Shopping Center, 1960

For more information on the Rand Estate, please contact us at histcomm @ cambridgema[.]gov. For more information on the Porter Square Shopping Center, please see our Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ET72pguUu/

Sources:
The Cambridge Chronicle
Cambridge Historical Commission architecture survey files
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge Vol. 5: Northwest Cambridge (1977)

Getting to Know Your CHC Staff: Part 7

Posted on June 11, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Welcome back to our ongoing series featuring the staff and volunteer who work here at the CHC! This post introduces our photography consultant/photograph archives assistant, John Dalterio.

My name is Louis Dalterio, but everyone calls me by my middle name, John. I grew up in between Massachusetts and Connecticut with my mother, who was raising me on her own at the time. I was trained as an electrician in trade school, but upon graduating I discovered that I found no passion in that line of work. Instead, I wanted to be a film director.

All throughout high school I made skateboarding videos with my friends and consumed every film that the local Blockbuster sold as it went out of business. When I turned twenty I decided to attend community college to study film-making. A few months after enrolling, I attempted to make my first film with some Kickstarter funding and a small cast and crew from my local area. We discovered then that a Hollywood vision without Hollywood’s resources was nearly impossible to produce. After much deliberation, I decided to take the pragmatic route and shift my focus to a more simple and solitary art practice – photography.

In the Spring of 2012 I transferred to the Art Institute of Boston to fully pursue my interest in photography. The cityscape, chaotic and congested, could not be more different from the environment of my backwoods New England upbringing. For all its chaos, though, the city was rife with subject matter for the camera lens. Immediately I began wandering through side streets and back allies, searching for great moments to capture or interesting people to meet and make portraits of. After a few years of doing this while earning my bachelor’s degree, I had produced three photo series and two photobooks, which I am still fond of today: “Almagest,” and “Nayara.” Flipping through the pages of the image laden books, I recalled the excitement I felt when I first watched the dailies from the failed indie film. For a time, making and consuming photobooks became not only my hobby, but my sole obsession.

After the completion of my first photobook, I began working for the Cambridge Historical Commission as a photo restoration specialist. I was brought in to restore over 1,000 historical images that were to be used in the book, “Building Old Cambridge,” which was published by the MIT Press in 2016. The process of preparing the images took nearly a year and a half, which was a time of great perseverance and learning for me as I strived to produce high quality images on tight deadlines while balancing my school work. At the end of the book’s preparation process I left the commission to complete my bachelor’s degree at Lesley University, which had absorbed the Art Institute of Boston in the time since I had first enrolled. The move from Kenmore Square to Porter Square in Cambridge turned out to be a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Boston, allowing me to think more clearly and focus on the thing that I cared about most, my art.

As I neared the completion of my bachelor’s degree, I applied for and won an artist residency in Sweden, which was a magical experience that eventually led me to enroll in Lesley’s Master’s in Photography and Integrated Media program. This path would lead me away from photography for two years to focus on interactive installation art. Now, however, approximately one year after graduating from the master’s program, I find myself coming back to photography, and, thankfully, back to the Cambridge Historical Commission. This time, however, I am making the photos instead of restoring them.

ampmeter

Gilt Edge_Merged_1 copy

Mornings at the Historical Commission are very special to me. As a slow riser, I am grateful for the ability to settle in with my coffee and pastry from the shop across the street and watch the light as it pours in through the windows, pouring over the loose documents that were left out from the previous day’s studies, the various busts of noble figures that sit atop the surrounding filing cabinets and shelving units, and, eventually, the historical objects that I place in its path. I am fond of the Historical Objects Collection at the CHC, with my favorite part not being a single object, but the subtle character that each object contains, and the stories they tell when illuminated.

rubbershoes

In my time outside of the commission, I am a(n) freelance video producer, digital media specialist, art teacher, and artist. On a more personal level, I am a dog father to this sweet lady named Layla:

And step-dog father to this special lady named Lulu:

lulu

Thank you, John!

Newly-Digitized Images – Lois M. Bowen Collection

Posted on October 17, 2018November 19, 2018 by Meta Partenheimer

We are happy to announce the addition of 28 images to our CHC Flickr account. These images come from the Lois M. Bowen Collection. Bowen was a Cambridge-based photographer and entrepreneur who owned a camera shop, Cambridge Camera and Marine, in Harvard Square from the 1940s to 1995.

Kodak film cannister owned by Lois M. Bowen, ca 1960s

Ms. Bowen was a freelance photographer for several organizations and publications around Cambridge and Boston, including The Architects’ Collaborative and Architectural Forum Magazine, as well as advertising agencies and admissions publications for colleges and universities.

Cover: "Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building" — Cover: “Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building”, June 1964

Pages from "Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building" featu — Pages from “Architectural Forum: The Magazine of Building” featuring the work of Lois M. Bowen, June 1964

Bowen’s work was primarily focused on architecture, but her photographic subjects spanned the Northeast and included documentation of her own life and community.

View of Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, 4 September 1978

Contact sheet: images of Strawberry Banke, October 1966

In addition to the photographic materials there are business papers and documents as well as personal correspondence and ephemera.

Interior view of Cambridge Camera and Marine, ca. 1960s

Interior View: 14 Old Dee Road in Cambridge, ca. 1960s

Visit our Flickr page to view these images and more from this collection.