I couldn’t have foreseen as a young photographer that I would logically inherit and hold the family photographs. It was somebody’s wisdom. They turned out to be gems of photography and a
unpolished view of history. I am now age fifty-four and my contributors are few.
The collection spans five generations and most of the history of photography. Most images arrived with a colorful hand me down story, some only carried a single clue inscribed in the margin or stamped on the back. The oldest images are one of a kind and others are derived from old and dangerous nitrocellulose negatives. Some were only in my hands long enough to scan them to digital. The color work from the sixties is fading fast. There are beautiful hand-tinted images, Polaroids, Kodachromes and the grainy 110. The images have been restored to taste and are posted in non-chronological order
These are my relatives and the people who crossed our paths. They have this great story. Here they set sail on the ocean of the web.
Harry Snowden
Posts tagged: Photography
Westward
Mason, Michigan
1929
The depression was not yet in full swing. My grandfather Wilson needed to travel to Colorado for summer courses that would allow him to teach back in Michigan. From left to right: Great uncle Brewster ( age 15 ), my grandfather Harry R. Wilson, Aunt Bobbie, my grandmother Winifred Wilson, my mother Shirley Wilson and my great aunt Margaret ( age 13 ). I cannot imagine what it would have been like to travel cross country in 1929. Love the camping gear strapped to the fenders.
I have another imagine from this same cross country adventure. It is located here: Feeding the Bears - Yellowstone National Park
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
The Day Job
Flamingo Motel - c. 1951
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mom’s very cool day job, swimming in Johnny Weissmuller’s aqua show at the Flamingo in Vegas. Had to be more exciting then anything involving a name tag!
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
Women in a wrinkled dress
Unknown
ND
3-3/8” x 5-3/8”
Postcard back without marks. There are no clues other that it is exactly the same style as a picture of my grandmother in 1917. I’m told these images were commonly taken at dance halls. No one can ID the women for me. It came to me in the collection so she must have been a relative or a close friend of my grandparents.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
Snowman Construction
Williamston, Michigan
1965
3-½ x 3-½ inches on Kodak paper
I think we were all in on the construction. His right hand holds the handle to my wagon, which is also full of snow The Mason jar rings were a nice touch for the glasses. This image is in fine shape considering it’s age. All the silver based images in the collection hold the test of time.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
Replica of Diplodocus
Vernal, Utah
1967
Cross country road trips in the 1960s! We stopped at Dinosaur National Monument on this trip west. But this isn’t it. This particular skeleton is actually in the city of Vernal, Utah at the Utah Field House of Natural History. My sister and I posed for the shot.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
The Good Old Bob Drews Show
Fresno, California
1964
Most towns that had a TV station would also have a home-grown kids show of their own production. It would be after school… and it would be live TV. This image looks promo and was most likely courtesy of the TV station. Front row, L to R: Myself, my sister and our neighbor Cookie. The back row: unidentified. And of course, Bob Drews on the right.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
Feeding the bears
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
1929
Printed on Velox paper: 5-7/8 x 3-3/4 inches
This is my great aunt Margaret and uncle Brewster feeding a bear cub in Yellowstone National Park. I laugh and shake my head in disbelief every time I see this image.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
Blue Water Bridge
Post 1938
Print on deckled paper: 2-5/8 x 4-3/8 inches
Verso:The image was stamped by a camera shop on Huron Ave, Port Huron, Michigan
I believe this is a photo commemorating immigration to the United States. From left to right we have my great uncle J. Percy Ellis, great grandmother and great grandfather Frances Hutchinson and Thomas Henry Ellis, my Grandmother Winnifred Ellis. They stand under the Blue Water Bridge that spans the Saint Clair River between Sarnia, Ontario Canada and Port Huron, Michigan USA. By visual comparison, I’ve confirmed that this is the Blue Water Bridge which was completed in 1938. I’m not sure who’s immigration we are celebrating here or what side of the border we are standing on. This was the route of immigration for most family members on my Mother’s side. It started in England with a transatlantic crossing by ship, down the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Canada and then final immigration to the United States. My grandfather Wilson immigrated right after world war one and is the likely photographer for this image.
Photographs from the collection of Harry Snowden
