Sunday, February 11, 2024

Good ones and bad ones can make an impression


Thing of the past ...

Trinidad camera club
Creator: Aultman, Otis A., 1874-1943.
Summary: A group of photographers stand on the shore of the Purgatoire (Purgatory) River as they prepare to take pictures with cameras on tripods in Trinidad (Las Animas County), Colorado.
Date: [between 1890 and 1910?]
Notes: Aultman #701; History Colorado.; Condition: emulsion chipping on edge of glass negative.; Location A3.X5; Title handwritten on negative envelope.; R7200106507
Physical Description: 1 negative : glass ; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.)
Is Part Of: History Colorado, Aultman collection

Bad photo sometimes can be very valuable

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Even a technically bad photo sometimes can be very valuable. That was a very early lesson lesson for me. I have made some very bad photos over the years, and seen many more, that are perhaps regarded as something held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness. Photos, and other things, are like that.

I saw some bad photos (technically) in the old meat locker in the Exon building in Dolores years ago,  with its old cross-slat, herring-bone patterned door on it, and its general utility – repurposed as newspaper and printing company dark room. But through etching magic, and light and shadow, and understanding ... the image appears. Placed on wood cut, and eventually ready in the paper.

More bad photos in the hidden dark room up the steps, high in Dolores High School Gym. Black and White, emergent from the D-76 in the trays, like new-found confidence ready for the Bear Tales annual.

Again, ordinarily, only passable images on the vacuum board in dark rooms of Wyoming peek up off the photo paper at me, with value and interest, worth and usefulness. I clip and hang the negatives using Japan dryer to hurry them along, knowing that they will be just great for this week's paper.

From under the basket at each end of the court, Jimmie McDaniels used a Speed Graphic 3.25" x 4.25" with only eight frames per role. Photographers had to be conservative and anticipate when the action was about to take place to take the right picture. The cry, "Just one more!" if a shot was missed was common. President Harry Truman introduced the White House photographers as the "Just One More Club."

"Your first 1,000 photographs are your worst," noted Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Andy Warhol said, "The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do." The worst thing is that it never changes, even when the people do.

Later, fabulous dark rooms with top shelf equipment ... process cameras, PMT machines, enlargers, pattern screens, dark bags, stainless steel tanks and reels, light boxes, sinks, dodges, loupes, redlight and more, more, more ...  and on to digital.

Photos, some that are even less than perfect – technically – deserve a certain measure of respect. Images: good ones and bad ones can make an impression.

###

 


Thing of the past ...
Dolores
Creator: Mollette, Rex.
Date: [1920-1930]
Two cars with four people in each drive down an unpaved street in the town of Dolores, Colorado, in Montezuma County. People sit and stand along the sidewalk and watch the scene. One-story commercial storefronts are along the street. Signs include: "Dolores Mercantile Co."
Format of Original Material: 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 17 x 25 cm (6 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.)
Digital Version Created From R. L. Dorman - 11/92 gift.
Notes: Hand-written on back of photoprint: Reference Only - originals in La Plata County Historical Society, Durango, Colorado. Title hand-written on back of photoprint.

 


Thing of the past ...
First Great Western Railway train into Johnstown, Colorado
Alternate Title First train into town
Date: [1902]
Donor: Hazel E. Johnson
Members of the community of Johnstown, Colorado, in Weld County, gather for the arrival of the first train into the town. The Great Western Railway Company, founded in 1901 by the Great Western Sugar Company, created the line to ship sugar beets from field to market. Signs include "Saloon" and "Billiard Hall."
Format of Original Material 1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 12 x 17 cm (4 3/4 x 6 1/2 in.)
Denver Public Library Special Collections.



Thing of the past ....
Georgetown Courier
Creator: Martin, Alex (Alexander), 1841-1929
Date: [1884-1888?]
Georgetown Courier building in Georgetown, Colorado. Shows a small printing press, probably the Washington hand press that Jesse Summers Randall, the newspaper's editor, bought from the Colorado Miner newspaper, and a large hand powered paper knife. A cylindrical stove and stovepipe are in the middle of the room. Cabinets and trays for holding type, tables with chairs, a glass arched cabinet and books in bookshelves line the walls of the room; gas lamps with globes are suspended over a set of type trays. Windows in the building's vestibule, which projects into the room, are covered with shades; one reads "Georgetown Courier" in reverse, and two silhouetted figures in profile are seen in another; an octagonal clock is over the windows. A young man sits at a desk next to a large window. Taxidermied animals, including a bobcat, birds, and a deer head are on the walls, along with paintings and numerous photographs, including artfully-arranged portrait cabinet cards. The room holds many potted plants including an amaryllis, geraniums, ivy, and other vines. A portrait bust stands on a cabinet.
Denver Public Library Special Collections.
 

Thing of the past ...
A frame from "A Cripple Creek Barroom," painted backdrop and hillbilly props didn't lend to authenticity of the film, but it made for a pretty lively 45 seconds of screen time. The whole thing was shot in Thomas Edison's New Jersey studio, says Michael J. Spencer in "Hollywood of the Rockies." Photo Courtesy of Cripple Creek District Museum.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Wolf Tongue
Creator: Zellers, Bob.
A team of workers set charges at the Wolf Tongue tungsten mine in Nederland (Boulder County), Colorado. One man places explosives in bored holes and the other holds a tamping stick. Both men wear work overalls, jackets, hard hats, and carbide lamps.
Date: [between 1930 and 1940?]
Notes: History Colorado.; Number inked on negative: "3950."; Title penciled on negative envelope.
Physical Description: 1 negative ; 10 x 13 cm. (4 x 5 in.)
Is Part Of: History Colorado, Zellers collection
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Pike's Peak, early hill climb
Creator Rhoads, Harry Mellon, 1880 or 1881-1975
Date [1920-1930?]
Donor Morey Engle
People ride in Duesenberg race car number "12" during the annual Pikes Peak National Hill Climbing Contest on the Pikes Peak Highway, El Paso County, Colorado.
Format of Original Material:1 photonegative : glass ; 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.); 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Original Material Found in Collection: Harry M. Rhoads photograph collection
Type of Material: Glass negatives; Photographic prints; Black & white photographs.
Denver Public Library Special Collections.
Notes: Slight silvering. Title hand-written on back of print.
 

Thing of the past ...
The Anaconda Mine, Gold Hill, Cripple Creek
Creator: Rudy, W. Ira.
A group of men sit on and stand near sacks filled with raw ore from the Anaconda Tunnel Mine in the Cripple Creek Mining District (Teller County), Colorado. Some of the men wear work clothes, others appear to be business men and are dressed in suits with topcoats and hats. A dusting of snow cover low ground in the distance.
Date:1892
Notes: Accession number: History Colorado.; Condition: ink spots.; Handwritten on envelope: "C-Mines-Anaconda Mine."; Inked on mat board: "First Car Load Gold Ore Mined at Cripple Creek, February 1892, Guyot."; Inked on original negative and reproduced in print: "ore sacks," "C.M.R.R. No. 1093."; Penciled on back of mat board: "The Anaconda Mine, 5 tons ran 11 oz gold to ton, 2 cars ran $36.00 per ton gold."; Photographer information printed on back of mat board.; Printed on back of mat board: "Colorado Midland Railway, Pike's Peak Route, Views along the Colorado Midland, A Specialty"; Title inked on original negative and reproduced in print.
History Colorado
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Chuck wagon & cowboys
Creator: Aultman, Otis A., 1874-1943.
Cowboys sit and stand by a chuck wagon probably near Trinidad (Las Animas County), Colorado. A stereographic camera on a tripod is in the distance.
Date: [between 1890 and 1910?]
Notes: Aultman #437; History Colorado.; Condition: emulsion chipping on edge of glass negative.; Location A3.X5; Title handwritten on negative envelope.
History Colorado.
 

Thing of the past ...
Cutting steel Gold Run Mine near Telluride
Creator Walker Art Studio.
Date: 1934-1941
A miner cuts steel with an oxyacetylene torch in a Gold Run Mine building near Telluride (San Miguel County), Colorado. He works near a generator.
Format of Original Material: 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 24 x 20 cm (9 1/2 x 8 in.)
Type of Material: Photographic prints; Black & white photographs
Notes: Photographers' stamp on back of print. Stamped on back of print: "Not To Be Reproduced". Title hand-written on back of print. Denver Public Library Special Collections.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
McPhee-McGinnity employees
Date: [1880-1900?]
Employees of the McPhee-McGinnity Manufacturing Company pose on horse-drawn wagons near the company's warehouse at 23rd (Twenty-third) and Blake Streets in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Lettering on the one-story corrugated metal building reads: "Paint Warehouse McPhee and McGinnity Company."
Format of Original Material: 1 photoprint ; 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Enos Abijah Mills
Naturalist and writer Enos A. Mills props his snowshoe on its toe and balances with a pole. A woman stands in the door of a log cabin in the background.
Format of Original Material 1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint ; 18 x 13 cm (7 x 5 in.)
Type of Material Film negatives; Photographic prints
Denver Public Library Special Collections.
 

Thing of the past ...
First ground broke [sic] for street car line
Creator: Sturtevant, J. Bevier (Joseph Bevier), 1851-1910.
Men pose beside mules, horses, and a dog on College Avenue on University Hill in Boulder (Boulder County), Colorado. Mules and horses are harnessed to probably grading equipment for a street car track line. Shows brick Victorian houses and the flat-topped tower of Old Main on the University of Colorado campus.
Date: 1899 March 3
Notes: History Colorado.; Condition: stained.; Handwritten on envelope: "C-Boulder."; Title, date, and attribution inked on original negative and reproduced in photographic print.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Fire, Victor, Colorado
Creator : Jones, J. B., photographer.
Men and women stand and watch smoke and flames from a fire in downtown Victor (Teller County), Colorado. Shows crowds of people in the street or near railroad tracks. Furniture and belongings are beside probably Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad tracks.
Date: 1899, August 21
History Colorado.
Notes : Condition: stained..; Handwritten on envelope: "C-Victor."; Title and date inked on verso.
 

Thing of the past ...
Pres. hunting party
Title-Alternative: History Colorado, Buckwalter collection ; no. 627
Creator: Buckwalter, Harry H.
President Theodore Roosevelt rides on horseback through a crowd at the Colorado Midland Railway Company depot in New Castle (Garfield County), Colorado. Other men in the hunting party are nearby on horseback.
Date: [1905]
Notes: History Colorado.; Title handwritten on negative envelope.
Physical Description: 1 negative : glass ; 17 x 22 cm. (6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)
Is Part Of: History Colorado, Buckwalter collection
 

Thing of the past ...
Leonard Nichols, last resident of Nevadaville, Colorado
Date: [1931-1935?]
Leonard Nichols grins and walks on Main Street in Nevadaville, Gilpin County, Colorado. A residence tops a stone retaining wall behind him. The Masonic Lodge has a brick front with arched windows on both floors and an incised panel under the cornice. The Oddfellows Building has stone trim and storefronts with millworked pilasters. The Bon-Ton Saloon has three arches. The wood-frame tower of the City Hall/Fire Department has a bell; cars are parked in the background.
Denver Public Library Special Collections.
1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in.)
Type of Material: Film negatives; Photographic prints; Black & white photographs.
Notes: Penciled on back of photoprint: "The Masonic Lodge chartered by Kansas Territory is the white arcaded building on the left. City fire department on the right."; Photoprint has a tear on the right edge. Title in blue pencil on back of photoprint.
 

Thing of the past ...
Amelia Earhart in Denver
Creator Rhoads, Harry Mellon, 1880 or 1881-1975
Date: June 3, 1931
Donor: Morey Engle
Mrs. Carlos L. Reavis of Denver hands a bouquet of flowers to Amelia Earhart, on Earhart's arrival in a Beech Nut autogiro, Denver, Colorado. Five other women stand nearby.
Format of Original Material 1 photonegative : glass ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint ; 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Original Material Found in Collection: Harry M. Rhoads photograph collection
Type of Material: Glass negatives; Photographic prints.
Notes: Condition: Emulsion is chipped. Formerly Engle #40149; Hand-written on back of photoprint: "Amelia Earhart with Beechnut Autogyro on her arrival to Denver on June 3, 1931. Being handed bouquet by Mrs. Carlos L. Reavis of Denver". Title supplied. Denver Public Library Special Collections.
 

Thing of the past ...
17th St. on top of Brown Palace
Creator: Rhoads, Harry Mellon, 1880 or 1881-1975
Date: [1940-1950?]
Donor: Morey Engle
Women pose on the roof of the Brown Palace Hotel, in Denver, Colorado. They wear outfits that include leopard skin, fur, feathers, fancy hats, a plaid cape, gloves, taffeta, and high heels. 17th (Seventeenth) Street and downtown commercial buildings are in the background.
Format of Original Material: 1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 10 x 12 cm (4 x 5 in.) on sheet 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in.)
Original Material Found in Collection: Harry M. Rhoads photograph collection
Type of Material: Film negatives; Photographic prints; Black & white. Denver Public Library Special Collections.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Men who laid the tile in Brown Palace Hotel, Denver
Date:[1982-1895?]
Group portrait of tile workers at the Brown Palace Hotel's Broadway entrance, Denver, Colorado. One man holds a dog; one smokes a cigar.
Format of Original Material: 1 photoprint on mat board; 28 x 35 cm (11 x 13 1/2 in.)
Digital Version Created From T. J. Kavanaugh, 1954.
Type of Material: Group portraits; Photographic prints; Black & white photographs; Portraits
Notes: Title and "B-way side Brown Palace Hotel" hand-written on back of print.
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Eastbound Galloping Goose # 5, R.G.S. tr. 372 @ Placerville passing Rocky Mtn. R.R. Club excursion train
Creator : Trout, George A.
Date: 1949 May 28
Summary: Front view of the Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose motor car beside a Rio Grande Southern excursion train in Placerville (San Miguel County), Colorado. Members of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club walk near the trains or stand and sit on the back platform of the observation car.
Description 1 photographic print ; 8 x 10 cm. (3 x 4 in.)
Source: George A. Trout;
Western History and Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
 
 

Thing of the past ...
East Paradox, Colo.
East Paradox (Montrose County), Colorado; shows houses, fences, rocks, and a canvas tent.
Date: [between 1920 and 1930?]
Notes: History Colorado.; Penciled on envelope: "C - East Paradox," "Box 6 Env 242."; Penciled on verso: "Coke ovens East Paradox, Colo.," "Red Book 2063," and "Radium in Colorado by T. W. Monell."; Title supplied.
Is Part of: History Colorado, Denver and Rio Grande collection.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
In 1910 these be-ribboned; prize-winning Herefords stole the show.; Note: Photo by James Katzel p. 60; from the book Riding High Colorado Ranchers and 100 Years of the National Western Stock Show by Thomas J. Noel.
Rocky Mountain News Photograph Collection
Donated to the Denver Public Library
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Carlton Tunnel - Xmas party - supts at portal
Creator: Zellers, Bob.
Construction superintendents laugh and smile by the mouth of the Carlton Tunnel in Teller County, Colorado. Mine drainage pipes and rail tracks flank the men; one man is unusually tall, and another wears jodhpurs. Letters read: "1939-1941 Safety First - Carlton Tunnel." Pine boughs, a painted cross, a United States flag, and a clock with letters: "Compliments of Southern Colorado Power Company" adorn the concrete entrance.
Date:[between 1940 and 1950?]
Notes: History Colorado.; Title penciled on negative sleeve with: "1441," and "safety film."
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Published caption / Description:Jack Johnson (circa 1901) was the first black heavyweight boxing champion and was considered one of the greatest fighters of the 20th century.
Date assigned by RMN 2005-01-13 11:47:45
JOHNSON.JPG
is Part Of Rocky Mountain News Photograph Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Colorado
Donated to the Denver Public Library by the Rocky Mountain News.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Maiden voyage to Cripple Creek
Creator: Buckwalter, Harry H.
A group of men and women pose in front of a Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek Railroad passenger train on its maiden voyage to Cripple Creek, Colorado. The men wear suits, ties and hats, the women wear full length dresses and hats. A plume of smoke rises up from the engine train behind the group.
Date: April 8, 1901.
Notes: "Railroad Colo. Spgs. & Cripple Creek District RR passenger train on maiden voyage to Cripple Creek" is handwritten on negative envelope.
Title-Alternative: History Colorado, Buckwalter Collection, Book II, no. 18
 

Georgetown, July 4th, 1899
Date: 1899 July 4
Summary: View of an Independence Day celebration in Georgetown (Clear Creek County), Colorado. Women wear blouses with puffed sleeves, dresses, and flat-brimmed straw hats, and they hold bicycles and pose beside the porch of a clapboard building. Gauzy fabric streamers are around porch railings. A man and a boy wear hats and sit on the porch. A woman holds a small American flag. People are gathered on a hill beside a timber building.
Description 1 photographic print on mat board ; 11 x 11 cm (4 x 4 in.)
Western History and Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library,
Related Material: Image File: ZZR711002750
Notes Condition: badly faded.; Spots on original negative reproduced in photographic print.; Title penciled on verso.; R7110027500
 

Thing of the past ...
A toast to Colorado sunshine
Date [1920-1930]
Summary: Four women and a man pose near a tent on Berthoud Pass in Clear Creek County, Colorado. The women toast with cups, they wear jodhpurs, blazers or cardigans, ties and hiking boots or shoes. A man sits on a log and holds an Airedale Terrier. A thermos and a skillet are near an unlit campfire. A gravel road with a stone embankment is on the edge of a creek.
Source: Denver Tourist Bureau.
Western History and Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
 

Thing of the past ...
Central City, Colo.
Creator: Fick, William L.
Date: [1947?]
A Queen Anne style brick house on Pine Street in Central City (Gilpin County), Colorado, with two turrets, a porch with steps, a wheel window under the gable, and a stone retaining wall.
Format of Original Material: 1 photoprint on album page ; 22 x 20 cm (9 x 7 1/2 in.)
Original Material Found in Collection: C Photo Collection 255. Colorado Mining, William L. Fick
Digital Version Created From C Photo Collection 255. Colorado Mining, William L. Fick. Album 1.
Denver Public Library Special Collections.
Type of Material: Photographic prints; Black & white photographs
Notes: Album in 7 unnumbered volumes. Historical information bound in album includes: "Gold and Silver Mining in Colorado: Leading Gold Producing Counties, Leading Silver Producing Counties," and "Colorado's Gold and Silver: The Shining Mountains, Gold Discovered, and Great Gold Strikes Early in 1859."; Title and "657-R" hand-written on back of print.
 
 

Thing of the past ...
Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge motor car number 5
Creator: Perry, Otto, 1894-1970
Date: 1944
Summary: "Galloping Goose" on Bilk trestle. Photographed: near Vance Jct., Colo., June 24, 1944.
Description: 1 photonegative ; 9 x 14 cm.; 1 photoprint : silver gelatin, black and white ; 9 x 14 cm.
Is Part Of: Otto C. Perry memorial collection of railroad photographs
Western History and Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library
 

Thing of the past ...

Dolores, Colorado
Date: [1930-1935]
View down an unpaved street in Dolores, Colorado, in Montezuma County. People are on sidewalks in front of commercial storefronts.
Format of Original Material: 1 copy photonegative : black-and-white ; 10 x 13 cm (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint : black-and-white ; 13 x 22 cm (5 x 8 1/2 in.)
Type of Material:Film negatives; Black & white photographs; Photographic prints; Black & white photographs
Notes: Title supplied by cataloger.
Denver Public Library Special Collections.

 



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