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Introduction George A. Vallet was a prominent photographer at the city of Kingston in Ulster County, New York from the 1850s to the early 1880s. Vallet began his photography career around 1852 and took over the gallery of Robert H. Hill in 1857, offering photographs utilizing the daguerreotype process, which was the original photographic process...

Introduction W. S. Davis was a popular photographer at the village of Ellenville, New York from the mid-1880s to 1902. He also operated a branch gallery at Grahamsville, New York during the 1890s. Winfield was the son of Edwin A. Davis, a photographer in Rockland County, New York. Winfield sold his Ellenville gallery in 1902 after the passing of...

Introduction Alfred Wurts Tice (1829-1909) was a popular photographer at the village of Ellenville in Ulster County, New York for nearly two decades from the early-to-mid 1860s to the early 1880s. In 1881 Tice left Ellenville to open a photograph gallery at Corry, Pennsylvania. He returned to Ellenville in 1895 and worked as an assistant in the...

Introduction J. J. Cornish was a photographer during the early 1870s at the village of Walton in the western Catskills of Delaware County, New York. Cornish had previously worked as a photographer for most of the 1860s at Dodgeville, Wisconsin; and after leaving Walton he worked as a photographer at several small villages in Colorado. G. S. M...

Albert V. Porter was a popular portrait and landscape photographer at the village of Ellenville in Ulster County, New York. He took over the studio of W. S. Davis in the early 1900s and successfully served the Ellenville community for nearly 20 years. By late 1918 Porter faced a significant health challenge in losing his eyesight, and therefore ret...

Introduction Albert V. Porter was a popular portrait and landscape photographer at the village of Ellenville in Ulster County, New York. He took over the studio of W. S. Davis in the early 1900s and successfully served the Ellenville community for nearly 20 years. By late 1918 Porter faced a significant health challenge in losing his eyesight, a...

Introduction James V. Brandow was a prominent photographer in the northern Catskills from the late 1800s to the 1930s. He was perhaps most associated with his work at the village of Windham, but at various times he also had galleries at Catskill, Prattsville, Stamford, Gilboa and Ellenville. He also operated a winter-time gallery in the city of...

In April of this year, I was able to attend the spring post card show hosted by the Kaaterskill Postcard Club at the village of Saugerties, New York. There was a good number of postcard dealers, and the attendance looked pretty good as well. When I arrived, to my surprise, the parking lot was full, and I was forced to park on the grass along the si...

Introduction John N. Brengel was a popular photographer for over 20 years in the city of Kingston, New York. Prior to his arrival at Kingston Brengel operated a photographic gallery in New York City from the late-1860s through the mid-1880s. Family portrait, by J. N. Brengel. Author's collection. Biography John N. Brengel was born i...

B. E. Pudney was a prolific publisher of postcards depicting the scenes of Delaware County, New York and the surrounding region. Located at the village of Sidney, he was also a well-known businessman, at times operating a clothing store, a bicycle shop, a stationery store, an automobile garage and a famous music store. I have recently acquired a...

Introduction John G. Stenger was a popular photographer at the hamlet of Callicoon Depot in the 1890s to the early 1900s. He was noted for both his landscape and portrait work. Anthony Stenger, John’s father, also worked as a photographer for many years at Callicoon Depot and at the hamlet of North Branch. Country Scene, by J. G. Stenger. A...

Introduction Clyde Fisher was a well-known naturalist, scientist and lecturer who served as curator at the American Museum of Natural History and as head of the Hayden Planetarium. He was a close friend of famed author and naturalist John Burroughs. Being an avid photographer Fisher took many photographs of Burroughs, his home and the surroundin...

Introduction Charles Carman was a popular photographer who operated a gallery at the village of Andes for over 30 years from around 1875 to 1908. He took a countless number of portraits of village residents and is believed to have taken some of the earliest photographs of the village of Andes. Andes, New York. Main Street, from High Street...

Bob Wyer is one of the most prolific photographers in the history of the Catskills. His photographic career included shooting just about everything, such as passport photos, chauffer licenses, hunting licenses, high school yearbooks, formal portraits, special occasions such as birthdays and weddings, young babies, local stores, hotels and businesse...

In the blog posts of April 8 and April 15 the importance of the photochrom process was discussed as part of the history of the Detroit Publishing Company. As a brief recap the process was invented in the 1880s in Zurich, Switzerland. The exclusive American rights to use the photochrom process was acquired in the mid-1890s by the Photochrom Company,...