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IMAGE - The AC Pillsbury Foundation Newsletter

Volume 5, No. 2, Autumn, 2010

Science, Photography, and the World We See Today

His photographs haunt the minds of many who see them. Astonishing vistas draw the eye to deep distances, the eyes of people, now gone, are caught in images holding trust and friendship. In another photo a flower blooms, its acts revealed; a cell lives out its destiny, dividing again and again in its dance of life. In other photos you find harsh realities of destruction, familiar figures and nearly forgotten moments from history, also included in his work. Seeing his images brings a hunger to know more of the man who held the camera.

Yet understanding Arthur C. Pillsbury evades even those who spent decades studying his work and finding mention of him has been nearly impossible.

The life of Arthur C. Pillsbury is the story of the application of photography to science in ways which resulted in broad public understanding of worlds previously beyond human vision. His goal was for us to experience the processes of life, the multifaceted and connected world of nature, of which we are a part, each for ourselves. Most of Pillsbury's inventions took place in a world where gatekeepers, then being installed through an ongoing centralization of government by corporations, were taking control of our institutions. Those years were 1909 – 1930.

The tools Pillsbury identified, and his goals, differed from all other photographers and scientists, as did his background. Understanding him provides insights into a world which was then changing in ways still impacting us today.

Pillsbury lived and breathed photography, working diligently to solve the existing technological problems preventing our understanding the worlds beyond human vision. Scientists and medical professionals then lacked the most direct and important source of information, seeing the processes of life as they took place. Both his parents and his older brother were physicians who constantly studied how to understand these processes in biology, hampered by lack of adequate scientific tools in the last decades of the 19^th Century and the first decade of the Twentieth Century. MORE

First Aeroplane into Yosemite, first Aerial Photos, May 27, 1919.

Hil Oehlmann's 'Recollections' on his years in Yosemite

Melinda's Theory on the Norsigian Negatives - to be published September 15th.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Volume Five - Special Issue - 2010

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

This is a special issue of IMAGE to bring you up to date with developments which have been taking place for many years behind the scenes, so to speak. In the last 24 hours I have been contacted several times regarding a statement made on the Ansel Adams Blog by Adams grandson, Matthew Adams.
In his statement, for which he sought no authentication from myself, I was quoted as having stated the glass plate images now known as the Norsigan Negatives, and which have been valued at $200,000,000, were not my Grandfather's work. I never made any such statement and, in fact, think they may well be. My requests and suggestions for objective authentication were ignored by all parties.
I prepared a statement regarding these negatives and the other materials which I examined myself in 2002 at the Norsigan home in Fresno. These would, perhaps, be minor issues except for ancillary events which document a long time pattern of behavior on the part of the Adams Family.

Adams goes on to state, "Arthur Pillsbury was active in Yosemite, and moved from Yosemite to Los Angeles." One has to wonder what the man is smoking. The many inaccuracies which have flowed from the Adams Family as a source, working their way into published works, over the decades in regards to my Grandfather can no longer be tolerated. That, along with the lack of any standards for reputable research, ignoring the obligation to contact me before publishing, and lack of attribution for his statements, must end. I immediately demanded a retraction and have not heard from him or anyone else associated with the Adams Family.

Sleeves with numbering system and description of contents.

My statement is below. An edition of the usual newsletter will be out in a month and, with an article on AC's lectures, contain an articles on these events. If you would like to receive further updates please send a notice to winkey@acpillsburyfoundation.org.

John Clark, a member of our Board of Directors and a good family friend, has agreed to assist us in this matter as a media liaison. John is a producer and director.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Further Information

Contact: John Clark

johnclarknew@mac.com

P.O. Box 3869

Hollywood, CA 90078

STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MATTHEW ADAMS ON THE NORISIGAN NEGATIVES

The following statements were attributed to me on the Ansel Adams blog site and are factually untrue and do not correctly reflect any comment ever made by myself.

From Matthew Adams on the Ansel Adams Blog, July 24, 2010,“That is a subjective opinion, but does narrow the field of alternatives. Boysen, Fiske, & Watkins were deceased by the estimated time of the negatives. Arthur Pillsbury was active in Yosemite, and moved from Yosemite to Los Angeles, however the negatives have been disclaimed by his grand-daughter, Melinda Pillsbury-Foster.”

I never disclaimed a possibility the negatives or the nitrate film, which Mr. Norisigan told me were in the envelopes at the time he bought them, were my Grandfather's work. Mr. Norisigan asked me to view the materials and I did so, visiting him and his wife at their home in Fresno in late autumn, 2002. While there, I examined both an assortment of glass negatives and envelopes. The visit lasted several hours and included a lengthy discussion on Mr. Norisigan's contacts with the Adams family. I made notes at the time and have now reviewed them. The information relayed to me concerned the materials being examined, how these were acquired, and his attempts to deal with issues raised by the Adams Family visit to view the materials in his possession.

Regarding Adams statement on my Grandfather's residence. My Grandfather lived in Berkeley-Oakland from 1906 until his death in 1946, a well known fact since he was a nationally known lecturer and had lead the application of photography to science. The list of his inventions includes the lapse-time camera for plants, (1912) the microscopic motion picture camera, (1927), the x-ray motion picture camera, (1929), and an underwater motion picture camera, (1930), which he used to produce films for his lecture series heard and seen by scientists and the general public around the world.

I offered Mr. Norisigan this opinion. The glass negatives appeared to be high quality, professionally produced images of the classical tourist sites of Yosemite. This was obvious at a glance. I had seen similar images, what my Grandfather called, 'Production Photos,' by the other professional photographers who worked in the Valley as well as my Grandfather's. Similar images by other photographers I had seen were produced on paper, however. I suggested, because of the similarity in all these common shots, Norisigan have these compared to the work of all photographers known to have worked in Yosemite using appropriate forensic equipment. Even with very similar professional images differences in the trees, clouds, and flow of water can make identifying the photographer certain by comparison with known work.

I further advised him to seek information on the numbering systems used by Yosemite photographers from Leroy Radonovich, the recognized expert on the subject.

During the course of my visit I told Mr. Norisigan I was aware of only two photographers who had systems which included numbers during the years which Norisigan named as the dates assigned to the glass negatives and envelopes. My Grandfather was one of these. The second, whose name evades me at this moment, had less than 1,000 photos in his collection.

The numbers on the envelopes I viewed were four digits, the first number of each being '8.' The numbers fit into a lost section of my Grandfather's collection, which I have worked to reassemble for over twenty years. By 1927 Grandfather's collection numbered in the many thousands. Grandfather routinely named his photo images as well as using a numbering system. The name and number did not vary, no matter how the image was produced, though in some cases, for instance on the d'orotones, the name did not appear on the image itself but on the label pasted on the back.

Before I left Mr. Norisigan provided me with Xeroxed copies of the envelopes, which are still in my possession.

I am not aware of any other Yosemite photographers who were producing d'orotones during this period. D'orotones were, of necessity, produced on glass at that point in time and Grandfather was selling many of these. Grandfather had produced a 6 foot square d'orotone for the head of a Hollywood studio around 1924. That piece sold for approximately $25,000 that same year.

I expressed the opinion at the time, and still believe, the 'Norisigan Negatives' might be my Grandfather's work. Through examination carried out by third parties I hoped to remove all doubt as to their origin.

I then suggested to Mr. Norisigan the glass plates in his possession be compared with the partially finished d'orotones I was shown by the Yosemite Chief Archivist on the occasion of my visit there in the early 90s.

This box of d'orotones, presumably still in the possession of the Yosemite Archives, I believe to be the work of Arthur C. Pillsbury. Not only did they strikingly resemble those produced at the Studio of the Three Arrows when I viewed them but the dates provided to me by the Chief Archivist as to when they were discovered would have coincided with the end of Grandfather's presence in the Valley, 1895 – 1928.

In the early 90s the box showed no sign of having been inventoried or examined. During the same visit I viewed an album of photos memorializing the building of the Glacier Point Hotel in 1918. The album followed the construction from the laying of foundations and was exhaustive, beautifully and professionally done. I commented on the likelihood these were taken by Grandfather to the Chief Archivist, who was standing with me as I leafed through the album. The Archivist pointed out they were not signed. I flipped the album over and the imprint of the Pillsbury Picture Company was on the back of the whole album. The Archivist made no further comment, refusing to discuss this or other issues.

It is not possible for competent professionals to overlook such clear evidence and fail to credit the individual who produced the work absent other factors. I found this, and other similar incidents disturbing.

At the time, and today, I believe the box of d'orotones to be my Grandfather's, stolen from his studio just before it was burned in November, 1927. These should be treated as possible evidence of a crime and compared to those presented as the Norisigan Negatives.

This research should be carried out by forensic experts unconnected to the Park Service, the Adams Family, or the Norisigan Team. All the items in question should also be fingerprinted and careful records of the full proceeding made public immediately.

Signed, July 29, 2010

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Volume 4, Number 2 Spring & Summer, 2009

The Knowledge Commons: How sharing changed the world

The first Nature Center Centennial – Yosemite Valley 1910

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Today all of us are familiar with nature centers. We know there will be photos, illustrations, exhibits, items we can buy that allow us to better understand the world of nature and the history that accompanies it, usually specific to that location. Nature centers came from the idea that it would be well if we understood the natural world, being a part of it. The year after next will mark the centennial of the modern nature center, an event to be celebrated.

We take for granted those educational resources, familiar with their use of movies, lectures, specimens to explain to the curious the natural world. That was not the case a century ago.

The first such center was located near the Yosemite Chapel next to what was once the road that turned towards the Valley wall. Now that 'road' runs through the parking lot there. There is no marker. That first nature center occupied the small space allotted to the Studio of the Three Arrows, owned by Arthur C. Pillsbury, who had always been fascinated by the world of nature and saw the need to save the wild flowers then being mowed in the meadows of Yosemite. He could have protested, gathered petitions and appealed to Congress. Instead he decided that if people could 'see' the world of nature in all of its beauty and complexity they would love it, understand their connection, and ensure its survival.

Pillsbury said in his book, “Picturing Miracles of Plant and Animal Life,” published in 1937, “One of the first reactions of seeing a reel of flowers growing and opening was to instill a love for them, a realization of their life struggles so similar to ours, and to wish to do something to stop the ruthless destruction of them which was fast causing them to become extinct.”

Pillsbury had first arrived in Yosemite on his bicycle from Stanford in 1895 along with his cousin, Bernard Lane, and a friend. There, he signed the guest book at the Cosmopolitan. His trip had been motivated by a mention of the glories of the Yosemite by an acquaintance of his mother's, Susan B. Anthony. That year marked Anthony's last trip to the Yosemite, this time without her long time friend and fellow advocate for the rights of women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Dr. Harriet Foster Pillsbury had gotten her degree in medicine at the Women's Infirmary of New York in 1880, three years before she and her husband, Dr. Harlin Henry Pillsbury, moved their family to Auburn, California, where young Arthur and his brother Ernest, were raised.

Arthur Pillsbury had grown up on the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. In the collection of small classics that accompanied him when ever he traveled, were well worn copies of their works.

Arthur's interest in nature began with cataloging plants and studying the ideas of Mendel; using the two microscopes his parents had brought with them to California. The family had also brought a massive library of books on all subjects relating to science. Yosemite was more beauty than Pillsbury had ever imagined possible. He fell in love with the place and all that he saw.

Arthur had begun attending Stanford University with a major in Mechanical Engineering its first year of operation. To earn his tuition he ran a combined photography and bicycle shop near campus. While at Stanford he invented a specimen slicer for microscopic slides and the first circuit panorama camera. Each came into existence to solve a problem he had encountered. The slicer was used for his own microscope and the circuit panorama allowed him to take in the vast spaces he encountered in nature.

While in Yosemite in 1895 Pillsbury had taken photos of the wildflowers. He would later write for his book, “I had still pictures taken of the meadows taken in early days in '95 showing them covered with flowers waist high and the same meadows as they were at this time.”

He had grown up hearing and reading and understanding that world through the lens of science so he used the then exploding technology of photography as his tool for helping others see as well.

Conservation had become a national issue through the bully pulpit of Teddy Roosevelt and the writings of Gifford Pinchot, whose book, “The Fight for Conservation,” framed the political debate on the subject. becoming , along with Herbert Croly's, “The Promise of American Life,” two of just a few books that would frame the Age of Collectivism in America.

Awakening understanding of nature itself and trusting the people to do right was different, contradicting the underlying assumptions of the New Progressivism that a cadre of leaders who 'knew best' should determine the future for everyone.

This became the first confrontation between the knowledge commons, the network, which today in the age of the Internet, we see as allowing individuals to cooperate through persuasion and consensus, and the rigid, top down approach typified by government and corporations. Over the next century the steady increase in human knowledge and the parallel growth of control through the alliance of government and corporations would compromise the very survival of humankind. It was a conflict between individualism and collectivism, open information sources and closed sources. This conflict in organizational structure would define the entire 20^th Century.

Today we recognize that sharing knowledge is an essential aspect of freedom. Then, the view that people should know only what made them useful, interchangable cogs, was ascendant and fashionable.

It was a war of ideas that has only recently been decided.

On May 13, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered the opening address, "Conservation as a National Duty," at the outset of a three-day meeting billed as the Governors' Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources. He explained to the attendees that "the occasion for the meeting lies in the fact that the natural resources of our country are in danger of exhaustion if we permit the old wasteful methods of exploiting them longer to continue." The conference propelled conservation issues into the forefront of public consciousness and stimulated a large number of private and state-level conservation initiatives. A new role for government was being forged, one that would prove useful to corporations.

The past was filled with incidents of individuals abusing the environment, but it was nothing to what corporations, with the cooperation of government, would do in the coming years.

Writers such as John Muir were moved by the real and present problems in the Yosemite caused by, “cattlemen, shepherds and land speculators.”

An article from American Park Network reports on Muir's thinking, “One summer, with his trusty mule Brownie, he had traveled extensively in the Sierra Nevada to study the threatened territory. He was exhilarated each time he encountered an alpine meadow of wildflowers but also wondered if their kind would survive to witness the 20th century. His arguments for preserving them included their value as watersheds for the water-dependent San Joaquin Valley agricultural industry. Muir worked ceaselessly to keep Yosemite intact and in its original state. Among his many notable accomplishments, Muir was a charter member and the first president of the Sierra Club which was formed in 1892 to secure federal protection for the Yosemite region. He died on December 24, 1914, at the age of 76. “

Seeing a problem Muir had looked for a solution. But he did so without understanding that the means adopted will mold the future. The 20^th Century would be marked by solutions using government to coerce outcomes instead of relying on the use of consensus and persuasion as the tools appropriate to a free people. Muir loved nature but his solutions were based on the idea that only with the intervention of force wielded by government could nature be protected.

The opposite theory that drove a lifetime of inventions for Arthur C. Pillsbury was the observed fact that if people could 'see' the world as it was, with its processes and beauty made visible for them, they would connect to that reality and be moved to understanding and so wish to protect what they saw.

To accomplish the preservation of the wild flowers and open nature to understanding Pillsbury made the first nature movie, built the first lapse-time camera to for plants in 1912, the first microscopic motion picture camera in 1927, the first X-ray motion picture camera and the first Underwater Motion Picture Cameras in 1929 and 1930. He then declined to patent them so that they would always be available to extend our understanding.

Instead of following the usual practices of inventors in his day Arthur C. Pillsbury dedicated all of his cameras to the extension of human understanding. His book, “Picturing Miracles of Plant and Animal Life,” published by Lippincott in 1937 is essentially a manual on how to build your own cameras and achieve the same results.

By do doing he employed action to make a statement about the profit he most valued from his life.

An explosion of understanding resulted. In the first half of the 20^th Century insights flowing from the reality of the world of nature provided new approaches in medicine, physics, and every other discipline. Today we talk about the idea that there should be a commons in knowledge, unbound by the limits of individual ownership. Sometimes philosophy is something you live instead of something you just write and talk about.

Ideas adopted by individuals are passed by example and through the flow of our life experiences. Through that steady adoption of ideas through families, educators, and the day to day exchanges of life we compile our culture.

The first nature films were shown on the porch of the Studio in the evenings, starting by 1910. The flickering images were the backdrop to his lecture on the habits of the flowers found in the meadows. This venture into providing a new perspective on the living world would soon be followed by more, using the photography to provide a visceral understanding and appreciation. It helped but still the mowing continued.

He had seen the first lapse-time camera slow down motion at Berkeley. He decided that the same idea could be applied to bringing the motion of the flowers into a human frame of reference. He also realized that the attention span of most people was limited.

“I realized that a scene had to be very dramatic to to hold the interest for over 30 seconds,” Pillsbury wrote in his book; he went on to explain how he had thought out each step in the motion picture process he originated.

When he began work on the lapse-time camera to record the life story of plants, the idea of spending time preserving wild flowers was not on the horizon for those who then thought of themselves as Conservationists. The year was 1912 and the Sierra Club, lead by John Muir, who loved and wrote about flowers himself, was focused on the problem of the Hetch-Hetchy that would keep him busy until his death. Arthur had gotten to know John Muir in the late 1800s, photographing him in Yosemite and for the magazine, Camera Craft, in 1900.

The mowing of the meadows was ended after one showing of his first film in 1912. Pillsbury's approach had worked immediately.

You could characterize the work of Arthur C. Pillsbury as the last gasp of individualism, struggling to survive the deluge of collectivism that was then over taking America. Or you could see him as the first to see the unrealized potential for technology to change the world, one mind at time.

Celebrate the Studio of the Three Arrows, April 1, 2009

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