(Edited from the March 9th entry)
What do this mystery photographer, Ansel Adams, Felix Bonfils and myself have in common?
Can you help me identify any of these people from Alaska in the 1960’s? These negatives were in a box of items I purchased at an auction in the early 1980’s, I did not make any of these photos.
I’m fairly certain that this photographer was a serious amateur as opposed to a professional photographer. It appeared that this was an estate auction of pre- 1960’s photographic gear. Included with the old and dusty photographic gear were a couple boxes of cool negatives, one of which turned out to be quite fascinating.
Most were large format 4×5 black & white negatives of various Alaska scenes, like the Fur Rendezvous celebration from the mid-1960’s. There is a fairly large collection of negatives from the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake of downtown Anchorage. The 1964 Earthquake negatives in particular are historic and high quality. These negatives are not as good as the Steve McCutcheon earthquake photographs, but are an interesting supplement to them.
There are some intriguing negatives made at an Ansel Adams workshop too, which tells me that in addition to maybe shooting a few assignments, this photographer was enthusiastic about photography for it’s own sake. There are what I would describe as meditative nature scenes of Yosemite.
Jackpot → Prize → Laurels → Laurence → Larry
It’s a bit amusing, but the Latin translation of laurel means from the laurel tree, or to be crowned with laurels, as victors. One could say that finding these negatives was kind of a jackpot, prize or a “Larry” kind of thing. Latin trivia for the day.
At any rate, the really cool box of negatives were nearly 9 inch x 11 inch glass plate negatives from what appeared to be Palestine of the late 1800’s. What the heck? How did these get in here? You can see the name “Felix Bonfils” handwritten in what appears to be French script in gold on the emulsion side of the negatives. Did this mystery photographer get the negatives in his travels to California in some obscure camera store? I’d like to identify the photographer so I could get some clue as to how he acquired the Felix Bonfils negatives.
Link to the Portfolio of Bonfils Negatives.
Link to Essay about the Bonfils Negatives.
Felix Bonfils negative of the "Ruins of Capernaum." There is an original signature on the negative, it's not placed there photographically like all the prints you see in the various collections in the world.
The name Capernaum is Hebrew for “Village of Nahum,” and is the name of an ancient village on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was deserted around the seventh century BCE (Before the Common Era). Capernaum is of interest because it is where Jesus performed his ministries around Galilee. A fourth century synagogue has been excavated there, among other historical sites. There is a great deal of scholarship from various people and entities regarding Capernaum.
These ten Felix Bonfils negatives are the only ones in existence as far as I know. The other more contemporary negatives look like the ones below.
Whomever made these negatives also attended at least one Ansel Adams workshop in California in the 60's. This mystery participant made some very nice negatives while interacting with Ansel Adams and other photographers. This is a very high quality 4x5 black & white negative.
Are any of these guys the mystery Alaskan photographer?
This appears to be the Mendenhall Glacier just outside of Juneau. Again, a 4x5 black & white negative was made. It looks like a Graflex type film holder was used that shot multiple numbered negatives.
This is from the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous from at least 1965 (according to the banner over the street). Check out the old-style television camera on top of the truck on the right. The dog sled races. This appears to be a negative from a professional type of Polaroid camera, maybe the Pathfinder 110. The writing on the left side of the emulsion says "Kodak Safety film," but Kodak made some of the negative materials for various instant Polaroid films. Look! There's Stewart's Photo on the left.
I used to spend a lot of hard-earned money at Stewart’s Photo when I was in high school in the early 70’s and they’d even rent out their darkroom to me when I couldn’t use the school darkrooms in the summer. Let’s hear it for the good guys at Stewart’s! I hear they retired a number of years ago.
This weird little thing is called an Amphicar and its an amphibious car that goes either on the highway or on waterways. This is Seward, Alaska, likely during the Silver Salmon Derby in August of each year. I suspect that this is the late 1960's.
Who are these two happy dudes with beautiful silver salmon? I'm sure our mystery photographer made this photograph in Seward, Alaska, perhaps during the Silver Salmon Derby. The kid on the right was likely my age, which would put him in his 50's today.
Around 1968 I remember seeing this little Amphicar in the middle of Resurrection Bay outside of Seward during the Silver Salmon derby in August. It had to be one of the most surreal scenes I’d witnessed in quite some time because it looked just like a little car cruising around the middle of the bay. The two guys were trolling for silvers, bobbing along peacefully in the three foot waves.
Who are these guys? This 4×5 negative was amongst all the others. Please email me if you have any clues as to the identity of any of these people. Here’s to all you Alaskan photographers!
Story Copyright Larry McNeil, All Rights Reserved, 2011
