Showing 14 results

Authority record
Photographer

William Trueblood

  • 1.5.2
  • Person
  • 12/31/1914-6/14/1983

William Trueblood was born in Ottumwa, Iowa on December 31, 1914. He lived in Tacoma for 55 years and was a photographer for the City of Tacoma. He died in Tacoma on June 14, 1983, at the age of 68.

Thomas H. Rutter

  • 1.5.8
  • Person
  • 1837-1925

Thomas H. Rutter was born in Truro, Cornwall, England on January 1, 1837. Before immigrating to the United States, he worked as a veterinarian. He moved to the Montana Territory in 1864 after hearing reports of the Gold Rush. By 1867, Rutter had developed an interest in photography and started a photography studio with R. J. Nesbitt in Glendale, Montana. In 1870, he opened his own studio in Butte, Montana. Rutter and his wife moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1888, where he opened a photography studio on 1346 Pacific Avenue. He worked there until 1900 and then moved to North Yakima where he continued to work as a photographer. The subject of his photographs was primarily the city and surrounding areas. He also took photos of the Yakima Native American tribe. In 1915, Rutter and his wife moved to Orting, Washington. Rutter died there on August 21, 1925, at the age of 88.

Stephen Cysewski

  • 2.1.2
  • Person
  • 8/25/1945-7/20/2020

Stephen Cysewski was an American photographer known for his self-described "wandering" style of street photography. Born in Berkeley, California he primarily grew up in the Tacoma area and graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1967. After college, he moved to Alaska as a VISTA volunteer where he lived for a year in the village of Shaktoolik. There he worked many jobs including as a high school counselor for Indian Education at West Anchorage High School. He earned his master’s of Liberal Arts degree from Alaska Pacific University and then was employed as an assistant professor in Information Technology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks from 1991-2009. He retired as a professor in 2007 and was granted emeritus status. Throughout his life, he traveled the world to such places as Korea, Thailand, Europe, Alaska, and Washington State to take photographs. In 1979 Cysewski traveled to Tacoma where he took hundreds of photographs of the downtown and residential areas in the city. Cysewski passed away at home in Alaska on July 20th, 2020 after battling pancreatic cancer.

Richards Photography Studio

  • 2.1.1
  • Business
  • 1919-1980

Turner Richards Studio was founded by Tacoma-born Turner Eugene Richards (1901-1968). (1) The Tacoma-based studio operated from 1919 through 1980 and its output included: moving images, portraits, industrial, society, business, advertising, news, and aerial photography.

The studio was first operated out of the Chamber of Commerce Building (2) where it provided both photograph and moving image services such as the recording of public performances and events for distribution with companies specializing in newsreels. (3) One of these events filmed was a local parade staged for the opening of the 1920 film “Last of the Mohicans” that played before the film at the Victory Theater in Tacoma in 1921. (4)

In 1935 the studio moved its location into the Tacoma Hotel the same year the hotel caught fire. (2) According to the Tacoma News Tribune, two policemen had to keep Turner Richards from entering his shop to save his expensive equipment. "He made several runs for the smoke-filled doorway but was stopped each time by the two policemen". (5) In the late 1930s, Turner Richards traveled to Hollywood to work as a photographer for Warner Brothers Studio. (6) Richards also developed Technicolor and animated films later used in Walt Disney productions. (1)

In the 1940s Richards expanded and opened Nancy’s Baby Portrait Studio located at 736 Pacific Ave in Tacoma. (7) By this time Turner’s sons, Bob and Nelson, became the photographers at their main studio located at 734 Pacific Ave. (8) Richards Studio expanded again in 1963 and opened another portrait studio at Villa Plaza, in Lakewood (9). On Sunday, February 18th, 1968 the Richards’ housekeeper found Turner Richards in his front yard and he is rushed to the hospital where he died. His death was caused by apparent suicide. (10) The Studio was then run by Edmond Paul Richards (1905-1984) and continued to operate until 1980 when it closed. (11) (12)

Prue Stuckey

  • 1.5.3
  • Person
  • 1920-1993

Prue Stuckey was born in Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands on September 22, 1920. He lived there for ten years, then went to school in New York. He was in the Army from 1939 to 1945 and later joined the Tacoma Police Department. He took a course at Eastman Kodak Co., which led him to become the police department photography instructor from 1952 to 1955. He was also the president of the Pierce County Professional Photographers Association. He was interested in the use of color photography in police work. After 26 years in the Tacoma Police Department, retired and died on April 1, 1993.

Myron Kreidler

  • 2.1.10
  • Person
  • 1904-1985

Myron Kreidler was born in Tacoma in 1904. He attended Pacific Lutheran University and later became president of the Pacific Lutheran University Alumni Association from 1936-1937. He began his career as a 9th grade teacher at Mason Junior High. He later worked as a staff photographer at Pacific Lutheran University and owned Kreidler Photo Studio. He died in Tacoma in 1985 at the age of 81.

Lewis Law Jr.

  • 2.1.7
  • Person
  • 11/22/1929-1/23/1998

Lewis Law, born to Viva Berg and Lewis Law Sr., was a graduate of Stadium High School and served as a US Army reservist. As a lifelong Tacoman Lewis' career at Tacoma City Public Works Department spanned 42 years. There he worked as a sidewalk inspector, principal engineer aid, and in the city's traffic signs department. An accomplished photographer, he was a division chairman and later vice president of the Tacoma Photographic Society. In these roles, he presented on photographic composition and shooting color film, among other photographic techniques. Lewis was also an avid traveler who photographed many of his trips throughout his life. He retired from the city in 1995 and passed away on January 23rd, 1998.

Lee Merrill

  • 1.5.7
  • Person
  • 1906-1987

Lee Merrill was born in Peabody, Massachusetts on May 25, 1906. (1) He worked as a commercial photographer and was involved in several associations of photographers, including the Washington State and Pierce County Photographers Associations. He was the official photographer for the Western Washington State Fair for over 30 years. (2) Merrill died on November 16, 1987, at the age of 81. (1)

Kenneth G. Ollar

  • 2.1.3
  • Person
  • 1912-2007

Kenneth G. Ollar was born in Tacoma on April 29, 1912. He attended Stadium High School, University of Puget Sound, and Washington State University before beginning a career as a photographer. He served in the Signal Corps as Combat Photo Unit Commander for General Patton during World War II and continued to serve in the Army Reserve for 21 years. Between 1940 and 1977, Ollar was a staff photographer for Tacoma General Hospital where he started the Newborn Baby Picture Program. During his time at the hospital, he took over 80,000 photographs of newborns. He also worked as a Mount Rainier National Park Photographer and freelance photographer.

F. Jay Haynes

  • 1.5.6
  • Person
  • 1853-1921

F. Jay Haynes was born in Saline, Michigan on October 28, 1853. He was a photographer of the Northern Pacific railroad. His studio was located along Pacific Avenue and 17th street. The subjects of his photos include landscapes and scenery of the Northern Pacific country, as well as individuals and groups. He also worked with crayon and pastel to produce portraits. As an official photographer of the Northern Pacific railroad, he took pictures of the railroad in order to garner public interest in railroad travel. Haynes died on March 10, 1921, at the age of 67. (1)

Christopher Petrich

  • 2.1.5
  • Person

Christopher Petrich was born in Tacoma. He attended Bellarmine High School, Georgetown University, and the American University in Washington DC where he studied art, design, and art history. He also studied under fine art photographer Alan Ross. Petrich began his career at age sixteen as a Photographer and Lab Technician in the portrait studio of Bert Perler. In the early 1970s, he sold cameras at Barney Elliot's Camera Shop in downtown Tacoma. He was hired as a Photographer by the City of Tacoma where he worked with William Trueblood and Jerry Timmons to photograph city events. He worked on a number of aerial photography assignments in this role and performed darkroom lab processing for the City. He photographed notable Tacoma visitors including Leroy Ostransky, Jacques Cousteau, Bill Cosby, and Richard Nixon and he created visual documentation of the Hawthorne District which was removed during the construction of the Tacoma Dome. In 1985, Petrich and Jerry Timmons founded Image Market Studio on 6th Avenue. Over the course of his career, he was employed by the Weyerhaeuser Company, the Washington State Legislature, and Yuen Lui Studios. His work has been exhibited widely across Washington and shown in Colorado, California, and Vermont.

C.E. and Hattie King

  • 2.1.4
  • Business

C.E. (Charles) and Hattie King were photographers in Tacoma in the latter part of the 19th century. Charles King was hired by Northern Pacific in the 1870s to photograph land where the tracks were to be laid between Livingston, Montana and Tacoma. In the 1880s, Charles and Hattie were hired to photograph local churches, residences, and ships. Charles was known for being one of the earliest photographers to capture an image of Mount Rainier. Charles King would go on to serve as a Tacoma Police Captain.

Arthur French

  • 1.5.4
  • Person

Arthur French was a photographer active from 1892 to 1905. (1) He started out by photographing landscapes and city views before becoming a studio photographer in Tacoma. His studio was located on Pacific Avenue. (3)

Albert Henry Barnes

  • 1.5.5
  • Person
  • 1876-1920

Albert Henry Barnes was born in California on June 27, 1876. He was a writer, photographer, and illustrator of magazines. His photos were mostly of Washington landscapes. Barnes was a member of the Mountaineers Club and the Tacoma Arts Club. He was active in the campaign to keep the name of Washington’s highest peak as Mount Tacoma. Barnes died on February 28, 1920, at the age of 44.