Arthur Clarence Pillsbury (1870-1946)
d'orotone Photograph
From the Arthur Clarence Pillsbury Foundation:
THE PANORAMA CAMERA
Circuit Panorama Camera - 1897
As a senior at Stanford University, Arthur C. Pillsbury decided his senior project in Mechanical Engineering would be to design a circuit panorama camera. Pillsbury commented in his autobiography on this, saying,
" Bicycle days led to athletic goods + cameras, and a class rush of which I made some 60 snap shots in an hours time, was the beginning of a life time in all kinds of photographic work. Scenic pictures of the Stanford Quad, Yosemite, Tahoe, and of California, designing and building the first revolving lense panarama camera, which looked like half a wash tub and made a picture 10 x 36 inches taking in almost half a circle, this new style of photography at once sprang into favor, it was especially good for mountain work or comprehensive views of citys etc. It was a bulky outfit, would only take one picture and then required a dark room to replace the exposed film. Which meant an entire days climb in the mountains had to be recorded with just one chance, but it had many advantages in skilled hands that even the later patented cameras do not possess."
Pillsbury's style in reporting his invention rolls past the thinking which preceded deciding it would be useful to record the broad and vast stretches of vistas which had stunned so many as Americans moved West, and his own thinking on the usefulness of this invention exists today in a few conventional photos, this one below being an example of his attempt to capture more of the what was before him.
You can almost hear him thinking, "How do I get the viewer to see the full scope of this view?
None of the original panoramas, which would have dated from the time the camera was designed in 1897 exist today. But Pillsbury took the camera with him to the Yukon in 1898 and used it to record the opening of the mining fields there. VIEW PANORAMAS
You can see how they must have impacted the viewer at the time. They reach out to you with their motion and immediacy.
On April 18, 1906, Pillsbury used the camera to record the first day of the San Francisco Earthquake, showing the monumental destruction caused first by the quake itself and then the impact of fire on the city.
Later, Pillsbury built another circuit panorama camera which took vertical views and many of these images were also produced as scenic views of the Yosemite, capturing as other cameras could not, the magnitude of that national treasure."
From: The Pillsbury Foundation. LINK
I donated this photograph to the Pillsbury Foundation. He was one of the early Yosemite photographers but that is not all he did. I thought I would add some inspirational words.
I believe the panorama was taken in 1906. It probably traveled by train to Gaines, Michigan to hang in the studio of a photographer named Hewitt Judson. He had a studio in Gaines and Fenton. I bought it and enjoyed it for over 40 years in Texas and now it is back with the photographer's Granddaugher. She is the President of his Foundation. It has been fun doing the research to find out the story behind this. Melinda is updating the biography on her Grandfather and I have been assisting her in the last few months. My husband, John, and I are planning a trip to see a few of the NPS parks.
God planted it; we are among uncounted others of various species who have enjoyed it as habitat, sanctuary, source of retreat, food, and inspiration. All valid. May it stand long and strong into times past our living!
~M. PILLSBURY
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Sequoiadendron giganteum, the giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, Wellingtonia or simply big tree. The giant sequoia is a member of the Cupressaceae family.
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