Monday, August 31, 2015

Table of Contents - A. A. Forbes

A. A. Forbes Web Portal
Please Read! Click on a topic link below. Read that topic. Click on the last link at the bottom "Go to A. A. Forbes home" to return to this TABLE OF CONTENTS page and repeat the process until you have read everything on this site about A. A. Forbes. 
Above: Unpublished mid-life photo by Forbes. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Bailly / Tureson.

Why Should You Care? If you are new to this website and asking yourself, "Who was Andrew Alexander Forbes, and why should I care?", then you want to click on the "Welcome" link below for a brief introduction, then come back to the home page and pick another Forbes topic of interest to explore further. 

Our research into the prolific photographic life of A. A. is ongoing, and we solicit your input and help in this endeaver. We encourage you to make comments on any given Forbes topic, as it helps us in our research and the quality of the site. Thank-you!

New: Month Year! Newly added section.
Updated: Month Year! Substantial new material.

Introduction:

Individual  Works of A. A. Forbes
     New: June 2015! Matlock Lake, Calif.
     New: August 2015! Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889

Forbes Younger Days (Birth in 1862 to 1902)

"Forbes Studio" Bishop, Calif. (1902 to 1916)

Forbes Post Studio to Passing (1916-1921)

Forbes Post Studio to Passing (1921-1955?)
     Wife Mary runs the Studio

Forbes Research Documents

Misc. Forbes

Presentations
Above: A. A. Forbes first became famous for his images captured as a cowboy photographer in the 1880's. The above photo was taken by Forbes on April 22, 1889 at the Oklahoma Land Rush. About 50,000 land seekers raced off to grab their share of the 2,000,000 acres being given away.
Posted by at No comments:

Oklahoma Land Rush of April 22, 1889

Click to enlarge photos.

I recently ran into these photos of the Oklahoma Land Rush. Forbes gained early fame for his capturing of these images on April 22, 1889. He took these while he was in his transition period from cowboy to pioneer photographer.

Two Oklahoma Land Rush Photographs, "The Start" No. 149 and No. 150 by A. A. Forbes ca 1889. The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 was as much a celebration as it was an attempt to settle the region, considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the country. The rush started at high noon on April 22, 1889 with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres, and countless thousands more looking on. 

Description of the 2 photos from the auction house, Heritage Auctions: Here we have two nearly identical images by A.A. Forbes, each taken as the land rush began and the first of the 50,000 set off to stake their claims. Images measure approximately 7.5" x 4" and are affixed to slightly larger mounts, one of which bears Forbes' ink stamp on verso. Although one image is less exposed than the other, both are in fine condition.

These 2 photos appear to have been sold at auction in 2008. You can find the links to these 2 photos above by clicking here. Auction house info below:

 Heritage Auctions
3500 Maple Ave., 17th Floor
Dallas, Texas 75219-3941
877-HERITAGE (437-4824)
(214) 528-3500
Fax: (214) 409-1425
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Matlock Lake, Calif.

We recently had a person write in about an A. A. Forbes photo in their posession:

 Dear Mr. Waag,
I came across your blog on A.A. Forbes. Just thought to let you know I have a Forbes photo of Matlock Lake in my office. If you ever need to copy it just let me know. I showed it to someone at the LA County Natural History Museum about 10 years ago and he liked it. I'm not trying to sell it, only want to let you know it exists.
Best wishes, A.P.
Our reply: 

 Sorry it took so long to get back to you. My A.A.Forbes project has a long way to go, but I’m still interested. For any original Forbes image, we are looking to obtain the following things:
- high quality scan of front and back
- “tape measure” dimension of both the image and the print (if they are different)
- provenance of the image
- location where it was taken and when
- description of the physical condition of the image
- description of the quality of the image, and image details as seen under a loupe.
Note that we are not looking to purchase Forbes images, but are looking to have them donated to the Eastern California Museum in Independence. Please keep that in mind. However, if the owner is not interested in having the image scanned, we might be interested in acquiring it from the owner. Thanks so much for sharing this image.
If you do not have experience with high quality reference scans, they can be obtained at most print shops at reasonable cost. If the charge to scan is reasonable and you are not inclined to pay for your image to live in perpetuity, we also may be willing to pay for the scan charge - please let us know.
—Tim and Brian
About Matlock Lake, California: Right off the bat, found a nice link to a trail going to Matlock Lake, which you can go to by clicking here. Here's a photo from the same vantage point which I stole off the CaliTrails web site.
Matlock Lake is in the Onion Valley area near Bishop, Calif. Above is a map I also borrowed from the CaliTrails web site. It shows Matlock Lake with the massive wall to the West of the lake that is featured in Forbes photo as well as the modern photo above. Looks like a great place to visit. In this case, the CaliTrails author did an overnight out-and-back backpack to Matlock Lake from a campground.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)